


is it too much to ask for something great?

by shinelikemillions91



Category: The 1975 (Band)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Dadfic, Dirty Talk, Domestic, First Time, George works at Sainsbury's, M/M, Matty has depression, Phone Sex, Rimming, Slight mention of abusive relationships, so much cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 09:25:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19017079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinelikemillions91/pseuds/shinelikemillions91
Summary: Matty and George's kids become friends on the first day of school.Could a meeting at the school gates change their lives forever?(I have no idea how to write story summaries I am SO sorry!)Title comes from Something Great by One Direction.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently unemployed and have been hit by the writing inspiration bug!
> 
> I've had this storyline in my head for the longest time, and decided that now is the best time to get it all out!
> 
> I hope you like, please comment if you enjoy! :)

**Matty**

Matty isn’t really sure how he ended up on the floor of his living room, crying, and surrounded by Barbie dolls, but here he is. He rubs his sore eyes and stares blearily up at the clock on the wall, he only has fifteen minutes until he needs to leave to pick Annie up from her first day of ‘big girl school’ as she had excitedly been calling it for the last few weeks. Matty feels the beginning of a headache start at the base of his neck and he sighs, picking up the discarded Barbies in their skimpy clothing and placing them into Annie’s toy box, knowing his fiancé Lizzie will give him hell if everything isn’t in its rightful place.

‘You might as well make yourself useful seeing as you lost your job,’ she had said scornfully in an undertone that morning over breakfast. Annie had been humming ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman’ happily to herself in her brand- new school uniform, shovelling Coco Pops into her mouth, oblivious to the discontent between her parents. Matty had just nodded, knowing it was easier to agree than to argue as he listlessly buttered his toast. He had lost his job in customer service a few weeks ago, and even though going to that office every day made him want to jump off the nearest roof most of the time, it had paid the bills and given him some semblance of purpose, other than Annie of course. 

Matty can’t quite believe that his baby girl is now old enough to be at school, and he suddenly feels far older than his twenty-five years, he stands up and peers at his face in the mirror. His eyes are blood-shot, and he has bags under them that could have carried a fucking carload of shopping from Sainsbury’s.

‘Fucking pull yourself together,’ Matty scalds himself as he runs his fingers through his dark curls. He shakes his head and busies himself looking for his car keys before he remembers that he had to sell his fucking car for some extra cash last week, he only got £500 for it but that’s at least a few weeks’ worth of food shopping and maybe some left over for some cigarettes.  


Matty genuinely cannot put into words how useless he feels, especially since, when he came home that day with the bad news, the first thing Lizzie had said was, ‘what did you fucking do, Matty?’ She obviously didn’t give a single shit about the fact that his eyes were red, and cheeks blotchy from crying. She couldn’t empathise of course; she had always loved her job as a hairdresser and just used to roll her eyes any time Matty complained about his job.

Matty grabs his keys and makes his way down the three flights of stairs of their block of flats, casting a glance at the group of youths sitting on the wall with cans of Strongbow between them. Frowning, he wishes they could afford to live in a nicer area, he would never have chosen this part of Manchester to raise Annie in, but it was all they could afford, they definitely couldn’t afford to move anywhere nicer now.

A sudden wave of nerves washes over him, and he tries to suppress it as he lights a cigarette, pulling his denim jacket around him tightly against the unseasonably chilly September weather. He just fucking knows that the other mums and dads are going to judge him at the school gates, fuck, they’d probably assume Matty was Annie’s delinquent older brother, not her dad! 

Realising he probably should have put on his jeans without the holes, he curses and considers turning back but that would make him late. Determined to be a responsible adult regardless of his appearance, Matty power walks the rest of the way to St. Michael’s Primary School, arriving five minutes early. He sits down on the bench by the gates and takes a deep breath, there’s a few other mums there, but no one really pays him a second thought which genuinely quells Matty’s nerves.

He pulls his phone out and fiddles about playing Angry Birds while he waits for 3pm, which embarrassingly Annie is far better at than him, he then hears a commotion of children’s voices and Matty looks up just in time to see Annie running towards him, her dark curly hair bouncing. Matty lets the first genuine smile of the day grace his face as Annie barrels into his chest and he wraps his arms around her.

He grins into her hair dropping a kiss to the top of her head before pulling away and giving her his best concerned dad face.

‘How was it, baby?’ He smiles.

‘I made a friend, daddy! Her name is Lola! Mrs North sat me next to her on the green table, she’s so nice and has blonde hair and brown eyes like me!’ Annie gasps out in an excited rush which makes Matty laugh.

‘Blonde hair and brown eyes, hmm?’

Annie nods earnestly, her own brown eyes sparkling with happiness and Matty honestly feels like crying all over again because all he wants in this world is for Annie to be happy.

‘She’s over there see!’ Annie squeals and her small hand slides into his and he feels himself being dragged by his tiny yet apparently very strong four-year-old daughter in the direction of a blonde girl and, a very tall man who Matty assumed was her dad, coincidentally the only other dad at the pick-up.

‘Daddy, this is Lola,’ Annie grins and Lola smiles up at him.

‘Hello, Mr Annie’s daddy!’ Lola holds her hand out and Matty decides that his daughter has good taste in friends.

He takes her small hand in his and shakes it, ‘Hello, Miss Lola, you can call me Matty.’

Lola and Annie both giggle and start chattering away to each other about school so Matty turns his attention to the tall man who had been watching the exchange with a smile on his face.

‘Er, hi… you must be Lola’s dad?’ Matty asks, tentatively. ‘I’m Mr Annie’s daddy, aka, Matty.’

The tall man’s smile widens and he laughs a little, low in his throat.

‘Nice to meet you, Mr Annie’s daddy, I’m Mr Lola’s daddy, but I guess you can call me George,’ he holds out his hand and Matty shakes it, his smile is infectious and Matty finds himself grinning.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, George.’

Matty casts his eyes around to the gaggle of mums and various kids before looking back to George.

‘So, do you feel as out of place here as me?’ He notices then that George has tattoos peeking out from under his hoodie, his messy hair also makes Matty feel more at ease.

George leans down a little bit towards Matty for whispering conspiratorially, ‘You have no fucking idea.’

Matty snorts and nods before voicing his nervous inner thoughts of earlier, ‘I feel like I look like Annie’s delinquent older brother rather than her dad.’ 

‘Nah, we’re just the cool dads,’ George winks and Matty feels warm all over with the thought that he might have made a friend today.

‘Right, come on Lolly!’ George exclaims, picking his daughter up with ease and plonking her up on his shoulders.

‘Bye, Annie and Mr Annie’s daddy,’ George grins and Lola waves at Annie before the two of them walk off in the opposite direction from Matty and Annie.

‘Bye Lola!’ Annie squeals, and Matty smiles down at his daughter, taking her hand in his once more.

‘What do you say about we go and buy some Ben & Jerry’s and then go home and watch Frozen?’ He asks her, full well knowing the answer. They’ve seen Frozen over fifty times, but Annie doesn’t seem to tire of it, and secretly neither does Matty.

‘Cookie dough?!’ Annie exclaims with wide eyes.

Matty nods. ‘Don’t tell mummy, okay?’

Annie nods eagerly, and Matty leads her in the direction of the small corner shop, the sun has come out by now and he smiles as he walks hand in hand with Annie. He finds that his mood is ten times lighter which he knows is mainly to do with the fact that Annie obviously had a good time at school and made a friend, but also partially because Matty feels like he too, might have made a friend in George.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George holds a birthday party for Lola, and things don't go to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stayed up all night writing and editing this chapter so I hope there aren't too many mistakes!
> 
> Let me know what you think :)

**Matty**

  
Matty doesn’t understand why he’s upset when he doesn’t end up seeing George at the school gates over the next few days following their initial meeting. Matty purposely shows up early to pick up with the intent of catching George, but instead Lola is picked up the next few days by a skinny guy with blonde hair. Neither Annie nor Lola introduce him so Matty ends up asking Annie after the third time of seeing him, ‘Annie, baby, do you know who the guy picking Lola up this week is?’

She nods earnestly, ‘that’s Uncle Adam,’ like Matty is supposed to know who that is. Matty just nods, contemplating the family dynamic. Does Lola have a mum? _Of course she fucking does, everyone has a mum, you dickhead._

As Matty lays in bed that night staring at the ceiling, he thinks about how pathetic he is, and how he knows it’s not normal to become as attached as quickly as he does, he always has. 

He remembers how his colleague Jamie had first introduced him to Lizzie, she had been training to become a hairdresser and pulled pints at the local pub in the evenings to pay for her course. She was beautiful, her hair had been bleached and short, and she had the bluest eyes Matty had ever seen, he was infatuated immediately and had shown up at the pub every night for two weeks until she took pity on him and finally accepted his offer to buy her a drink, even though she could get them for free at work.

They had dated on and off for a year before Lizzie fell pregnant by accident, they would break up during drunken fights, both of them would sulk for a few days, and then they’d be drawn back together again like magnets. Matty remembers the sick feeling that hadn’t left him for the entirety of Lizzie’s pregnancy, he would have never told her to get rid of it, all the while secretly hoping that she would. Matty was not functional enough to look after another small human, and his and Lizzie’s relationship was definitely not stable enough to raise a child in.

They had told their respective families, and Matty’s mum, dad, and step-dad had been over the moon, Lizzie’s family were decidedly less supportive. They had never really liked Matty, he had too many holes in his clothes, he liked obscure music and even more obscure poetry, and he knew Lizzie told them about their arguments, and they definitely knew about that time Matty cheated on her with Rachel from finance in a drunken haze at the Christmas party. Determined to make everything work for the sake of his unborn child, Matty saved up for an engagement ring, and proposed. Lizzie’s parents became a bit warmer to him afterwards.

However, the strangest thing happened on that cold winter night that Annie was born. Having spent the last nine months dreading this moment, Matty’s mind was irrevocably changed the minute he saw Annie laying in Lizzie’s arms, her tiny fists clenched and her eyelids flickering, he fell in love with her instantly, and he knew in that moment that he would die for her in a heartbeat. He had never felt anything so strong in his life, that it terrified and thrilled him in equal measure. 

Everything had started going wrong about a year ago, the stresses of raising a child, money worries and the pressure of Lizzie’s parents constantly asking him why he had bothered proposing if he couldn’t afford to get married starting to grate at their relationship. They managed to keep it hidden from Annie for the most part, but Matty is sure that his incredibly astute daughter must know that something was going wrong, even if she didn’t mention it. In the last few weeks since Matty lost his job however, Lizzie had started to become nasty, snapping at him for everything, and never missing a chance to bring up how pathetic and useless he was, and asking him _how did he felt not being able to support his child?_

Matty was trying to let it go over his head, but at times it got so much that Matty just wanted to scream in her face that he was fucking trying his best. In fact, the previous night, he’d worked himself into such a state that he went into his sleeping daughter’s room and watched her sleep until the sun came up, Annie was the only good thing he had, and seeing her uncomplicated sleep calmed him, and allowed him to breathe. He would be okay, as long as Annie was okay. Was it really any surprise that when George had shown him even the briefest respite of friendly conversation, Matty had taken it and ran with it?

**

Matty shows up at the school gates on Friday, with ten minutes to spare, sweaty and out of breath, his white dress shirt is sticking to his chest and his tie has come loose and is hanging awkwardly around his neck. His job interview had run over, and Matty is certain he did a piss poor job at convincing them to hire him as he had been clock watching the entire time.

It is of course sod’s fucking law that on the day Matty shows up looking dishevelled and grumpy that George is there at the school gates, he’s wearing a Nirvana t-shirt that shows off the sheer amount of tattoos that he had and Matty can’t help but grin, he gets the impression that some of the mother’s are less than impressed. He raises a hand in greeting and George smiles and nods, walking towards him.

‘Hey, Matty wasn’t it?’ he smiles, reaching for his sunglasses that are perching on top of his head.

‘Yeah, hey, haven’t seen you around for a couple of days?’ Matty decides to use this opportune moment of kid-freeness to investigate.

George laughs. ‘You noticed? Yeah, bloody work couldn’t change my shifts, so I had to get my buddy Adam to pick Lola up. I work at Sainsbury’s; you know the one on Wilmslow Road?’

‘I know it,’ Matty smiles, ‘That’s pretty shit though.’

George ‘hmms,’ before looking Matty up and down unashamedly, and Matty feels a sudden flush rise to his cheeks.

‘How come you’re dressed up all fancy?’ 

Matty clears his throat, ‘Oh, I er… I just came back from a job interview actually.’

George claps a large hand on Matty’s still embarrassingly damp back. ‘Good luck, mate, hope you get it,’ he smiles. ‘I’m glad I caught you actually… basically it’s Lola’s birthday next week, and tomorrow I’m gonna be throwing her first big birthday party, you and Annie will be there right? I’m sorry it’s so last minute, I wasn’t going to trust a four-year-old to relay this info!’

Matty suddenly feels lighter than air and he grins at George. ‘Will there be cake?’

George looks scandalised. ‘Of course, what kind of party host do you take me for?! There’s also going to be a bouncy castle because I’m the King of birthday parties.’ He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a folded piece of a paper, he hands it to Matty. ‘Address and times are on there.’

‘Cheers,’ Matty laughs, sliding it into his jacket pocket. It’s then that Annie and Lola come running up to them.

‘Daddy, did you tell Matty about my party?!’ Lola gabbles, pulling on George’s arm, earning a nod from him before turning to Matty. ‘I’m going to be five whole years.’

Matty laughs. ‘That’s a lot of years.’

Annie looks up at Matty. ‘Can I be five soon too?’

‘Not quite yet, sweetheart, your birthday isn’t until January.’

Annie pouts and Matty, eager to avoid a stroppy four-year-old, ‘...but you get to go to Lola’s party, and you can wear that pretty yellow dress that Nanna Denise bought you, can’t you?’

Annie brightens and nods and Matty takes her hand.

‘Right, we need to get going, daddy’s all smelly and needs a shower.’

George snorts, and Lola and Annie giggle.

‘See you tomorrow, smelly,’ George winks and Matty almost feels giddy with this strange warm feeling, it’s been a long time since anyone has joked around with him or wanted to be his friend.

‘We’ll be there.’

**

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck,’ Matty mutters to himself, rummaging through his half of the wardrobe. He knows that if Lizzie wasn’t at work, she’d tell him off for swearing while Annie is anywhere near him. However, he has five minutes before him, and Annie need to leave, and he has no fucking clue what to wear, Matty believes this warrants at least a few curse words. Annie has been ready for half an hour, so Matty left her watching Peppa Pig in the living room while he has a slight internal melt down. He had been absolutely fine until he saw George’s address and realised that he lived down a very nice road, so Matty couldn’t just show up in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, he had to make an effort.

He finally decides on his nice, hole free black jeans and a white and pink floral-patterned shirt, not too dressy, but just dressy enough to pull of the pretence of being a real adult that takes his daughter to birthday parties by himself. 

‘Annie, are you ready?’ He calls out, hopping around on one foot as he pulls his shoes on.

She appears in the doorway looking cute as fuck in Matty’s opinion, but then he is biased. Matty managed to get her to sit still long enough for him to put some clips in her hair and paint her nails, yellow to match her dress.

‘I’m ready, daddy… is that mummy’s shirt?’ 

‘No, baby, it’s mine,’ Matty says quickly as he ushers her through the living room towards the front door.

‘But flowers are for girls!’ She exclaims, looking at him like he’s every kind of stupid.

‘Boys can wear flowers too, Annie,’ Matty says patiently, and feels like this really isn’t the time to be teaching his daughter about subverting gender normativity as they have a bus to catch in 3 minutes.

Annie shakes her head. ‘Boys are so silly.’

They arrive at the bus stop just as it arrives and Annie runs to the back of the bus, Matty joins her and smiles down at her.

‘Are you excited?’

Annie nods and grins up at him, clutching the gift bag in her small hands as she stares out the dirty bus window.

Matty had got up early that morning and been in town for when the shops opened at 9am. He had dithered around finally decided on some hair clips, felt pens and a Disney Princess colouring book. He had made it home just in time as Lizzie headed out to work, earning a glare from her.

Matty wraps an arm around Annie’s shoulders and shuts his eyes. He sincerely hopes this birthday party goes better than the last one he and Lizzie had escorted Annie to. The birthday boy, a child called Max that Annie had gone to pre-school with had gone to town on his birthday cake, and had ended up throwing up all over himself and the poor party entertainer. They’d left pretty sharpish after that.

‘Are we there yet, daddy?’ Annie breaks Matty out of his reverie and he looks around.

‘Almost,’ he assures her, checking Google Maps on his phone quickly to make sure that they hadn’t gone sailing past the correct bus stop. ‘It’s the next bus stop, baby.’  
Annie bounces up and down on her seat in excitement at exactly the same time that Matty leans down to kiss the top of her head, his nose making contact with her head with alarming force, causing Matty to let out a loud groan. He only just manages to stop himself cursing, as his hands fly to his nose, he looks down to see his fingers covered in blood.

‘Daddy, you’re bleeding!’ Annie exclaims in alarm, and it takes everything in Matty to stop himself from coming out with a sarcastic response, he simply nods.

‘I’m okay, love,’ he tries to reassure her.

The bus lurches to a stop and Matty quickly grabs Annie’s hand with the hand that’s not covered in blood and leads her off the bus, fully aware that he’s going to have to knock on George’s front door with blood all over his face and probably his clothes at this rate.

‘It’s that house!’ Annie squeals, pointing at the house a little bit further down the road, there are balloons everywhere, with a pink sparkly banner reading ‘BIRTHDAY GIRL!’ taped to the front door. She races off towards it, and Matty’s mouth is too thick with blood for him to call after her, he simply follows, his heart sinking as he realises that blood has dripped off his chin onto his white shirt. 

He gets to the front door just as it opens to reveal Lola in a pink dress with sparkly butterflies all over it, and behind her is the man Annie had called Uncle Adam. He raises a bloody hand as Annie and Lola run off together into the house, and Adam’s eyes widen in alarm.

‘Mate, are you okay?’

‘Nose bleed,’ Matty muffles out.

‘Shit, I’ll get you a tissue, wait there.’

Matty nods and just stands in the doorway of the house that Matty now notices is very nice indeed, and makes his apartment look like a complete shit hole. 

As his eyes wander over the expensively framed photos of Lola and George all over the walls, George appears from a door that apparently leads into the kitchen and subsequently the garden as he can hear children squealing and laughing from outside.

‘Fuck, what happened to you?!’ George rushes over to him just as Adam appears with a box of tissues.

‘Nose bleed,’ Matty repeats, grabbing a handful of tissues and pressing them into his throbbing nose. ‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ Adam smiles. ‘I’m Adam, you must be Matty.’

Having mopped up the worst of the blood Matty gives Adam a small smile, hoping he doesn’t have blood on his teeth.

‘Nice to meet you, mate. Sorry about the terrible first impression!’

‘Don’t mention it,’ Adam laughs before turning to George. ‘I need to get back to child wrangling, I left Ross all by himself… I’ll see you outside.’ He gives Matty a smile wave before heading back outside.

George looks at Matty pointedly.

‘No offense, mate, but your clothes are covered in blood, and the kids might get a bit freaked out, you wanna borrow a shirt or something?’

‘Only if you don’t mind,’ Matty’s face is twisted in a mix of embarrassment and anger at himself.

‘Of course not! Look, come with me,’ he turns to head up the stairs and Matty hastily kicks off his shoes before following George upstairs.

George leads Matty into a large, beautifully furnished bedroom and Matty can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy towards George as he starts to unbutton his shirt.

‘It’s a shame, I like that shirt on you,’ George admits, shrugging a little as Matty slips his shirt off, holding it awkwardly, aware that he doesn’t want to put it down for fear of getting blood on George’s bedsheets.

Matty swallows a little bit, his mouth tasting bloody. ‘Oh, thanks… I had to explain to Annie that boys are allowed to wear flowers if they want, but she wasn’t having any of it!’

George laughs, tugging the bloody shirt from Matty’s hands before tossing a plain white shirt onto the bed. ‘I think that’s the only thing I own that won’t drown you!’

Matty smiles. ‘Is it okay if I use your bathroom, need to wash all this fucking blood of my face… I’m such a fucking disaster sometimes.’

‘Sure, out of here, 2nd door on the left.’

‘Cheers,’ Matty gives George a small smile and a nod before heading to the bathroom, careful to not touch anything with his bloody hands.

He clicks the bathroom door shut and locks it, heading over to the mirror to inspect the damage. His nose is red and crusted with rapidly drying blood, he inspects his teeth and his horrified to find them tinged pink. He turns on the tap and gargles with some water before splashing some on his face, Matty can feel his eyes start to prick with tears as he realises how much of a fucking mess he is, he can’t even take his daughter to a party without fucking it up. George must think he’s a fucking idiot. He presses the palms of his hands to his eyes and takes a deep breath to calm himself, he notices his hands are shaking, and he realises he’s desperate for a cigarette.

Suddenly there’s a gentle knock at the bathroom door, and George’s voice comes softly.

‘Are you okay in there, Matty?’

‘Yeah, yeah, sorry, I’m just coming!’

Matty takes one last look at himself in the mirror, his eyes are a tiny bit pink, but he hopes George won’t notice. He ties his curls up into a messy bun before he unlocks the door to see a concerned looking George holding out the white shirt.

‘You forgot this.’

Matty gives him a grateful smile and pulls the shirt on, it comes down to his thighs and George grins at him. ‘More like a dress than a shirt.’

‘I’m not short you know, you’re just exceptionally tall.’

George just rolls his eyes. ‘I’ve heard them all, mate. Tree, Friendly Giant, Terminator, Gigantor… or my friend Ross’s personal favourite, big old fucker!’

Matty giggles and George raises an eyebrow at him. ‘Something funny, shortarse?’

Matty just smiles and shakes his head, making a conscious effort to try and cheer the fuck up. George is making it surprisingly easy.

‘C’mon, we should probably get back to everyone, people will start to talk.’

It’s Matty’s turn to raises his eyebrows as George gives him a conspiratorial smile. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone I’ve had you shirtless in my room.’

Matty feels his cheeks turn pink and George cackles as he turns to head down the stairs, leaving Matty vaguely wondering if George is flirting with him, or if this is what he’s like with everyone. 

Matty quickly dispels this thought as it would open an entire can of worms that he’s really not too keen to open right now and takes a deep breath. He can do this. He can fucking do this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George and Matty share a heart to heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all still enjoying!  
> Thank you to everyone who's commented and left kudos so far! <3

**George**

George leads Matty out into the garden, the sun is shining high in the sky and George feels like this might do wonders for Matty. He can feel anxiety coming off Matty in waves and he decides that his mission for the day is to make sure that not only his daughter has the best day but that Matty does too. George isn’t sure why he’s taken a shine to Matty, but he thinks it might have something to do with the underlying sadness the smaller man gives off, George wants to get to the bottom of it more than he wants to admit. 

As the two men reach the garden patio, George wraps an arm lightly around Matty’s thin shoulders and gives him a grin, pointing over to Adam and Ross who are conducting a rather lively game of pass the parcel.

‘You’ve met Adam, but the guy with the beard, that’s my other best mate Ross,’ George explains. ‘I met them both at work, and honestly they’re like brothers to me, I don’t really know what I’d do without them… they rent a flat together a few roads away, but they spend most of the time here when we’re not a work.’

Matty smiles. ‘That’s nice, I mean Lola calls him Uncle Adam so I guessed you must be pretty close.’

‘They’re my rock… they’ve helped me out with Lola so much,’ George doesn’t elaborate more about his situation, he feels like that’s better left to when they can chat properly.  


Matty suddenly grins widely, and waves in the direction of the bouncy castle and George’s heart feels like it could burst. Firstly, Matty has a lovely smile which doesn’t go unnoticed by George, and secondly Lola and Annie are holding hands, and bouncing in circles, giggling, and waving at them to come and join them.

George cocks an eyebrow at Matty. ‘When was the last time you went on a bouncy castle?’

‘Er… when I was about the girls’ age, honestly.’

‘Well that’s changing today!’ George grabs hold of Matty’s hand and yanks him towards the bouncy castle. They both almost trip over as they run, discarding their shoes as they go.

‘Daddy, where did your girl shirt go?!’ Annie gasps at Matty as they both clamber up towards their daughters.

Matty shakes his head. ‘Daddy got in a bit of a mess, baby.’

George smiles and takes Lola’s small hand in his left one, Matty’s hand in his right, Matty takes Annie’s hand they form a circle.

Matty surprises George by tentatively jumping first, causing the rest of them to follow suit, and soon they’re a jumping, giggling mess. Matty’s hair is flying out of the messy bun he’d attempted earlier, and his cheeks are flushed with happiness, and George thinks his plan might be working.

It’s George that loses his footing first, sending them all tumbling down, a breathless laughing mess, George notices that Matty’s tattooed arm is pressed warmly against his, and he’s momentarily winded by how much he wants to run his fingers over the ink. George shuts his eyes, feeling the sun beat down on his flushed skin and he grins, trying to commit this moment to memory, he hopes Matty is doing the same. He opens his eyes slowly to find Matty looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

Lola and Annie both clamber to their feet and wobble unsteadily off the bouncy castle as the call of, ‘who wants pizza?!’ fills the air.

George sits up and points over to the back door where his mum and sort-of-step-dad emerge with plates of pizza.

‘That’s my mum Catherine and her boyfriend Peter,’ he explains to Matty, running his fingers through his hair as Matty sits up to join him.

‘Do you live here with them?’ Matty asks, and George is aware that Matty must be wondering how he could afford this big house with just his Sainsbury’s salary.

George shakes his head. ‘Nah, I actually grew up in this house, my uhh… my dad passed away when I was fifteen and two years ago my mum moved in with Peter, I pay her rent towards this place… I didn’t really want to move, and mum didn’t want to sell the house… too many memories, you know?’

‘Shit, I’m sorry,’ Matty says quietly, his bottom lip between his teeth.

‘It’s cool, it was ten years ago, but yeah, it’s nice to not have to leave this place, I have a lot of memories here, and I really want Lola to love it as much as I do… she’s far too young to know all that yet though.’

Matty looks at George like he wants to ask a question but doesn’t know if he’s allowed, his eyes glancing over the kids who are all tucking eagerly into pizza. Adam, Ross, George’s mum, and Peter are chatting to each other. George nudges Matty’s arm lightly with his, and gives him an encouraging smile, he knows what Matty’s going to ask anyway.

‘Do you mind me asking… where’s Lola’s mum?’

George laughs a little bit and nods. ‘Honestly it’s okay… umm, her name is Amelia, we were friends with benefits when we were at university together, she got pregnant and didn’t find out until it was too late. She was… she was going to give Lola up for adoption and I was all for it, like we were twenty, we couldn’t be parents… but then I held Lola for the first time… I just couldn’t give her up, you know?’

Matty swallows slowly and looks up at George, he looks achingly sad. ‘I know exactly what you mean, it takes your breath away doesn’t it, the love?’

‘Exactly,’ George continues. ‘Amelia didn’t want anything to do with Lola so I took her, dropped out of university to look after her, and it’s honestly the best decision I’ve ever made.’

‘You’re so brave, did you know that?’ Matty says quietly that George only just hears him over the excited chatter of the kids.

‘Nah, it’s-‘ George starts, but Matty cuts him off.

‘No, really, you are… I could never do this by myself, I mean, sometimes I barely feel like I’m keeping it together as a person, let alone a parent, and I have Lizzie…’

‘Lizzie’s your girlfriend?’ George enquires. George had seen Annie being dropped off in the mornings at school by a short lady with long, dark, straight hair. He always thought she looked angry, a stark contrast to her bubbly, smiling daughter. 

Matty rubs his eyes with his fingers. ‘Fiancé, actually… I um… I proposed when she was pregnant with Annie, but we can’t really afford to get married, especially now I’ve lost my job…’ Matty’s eyes widen briefly, and he looks like he’s said something wrong, George lays a hand over Matty’s restless ones in his lap.

‘Hey, it’s okay… it took me so long to find a job when I left university, you’ll find something.’

Matty gives him a grateful smile, his eyes glancing down to their touching hands.

‘Thanks… things are pretty shit at the moment actually, Annie’s the only thing stopping me from walking out in front of oncoming traffic if I’m being honest with you…’ He lets out an awkward half laugh, and George gets the impression that he’s not totally joking and frowns. 

‘Don’t be daft,’ George smiles, trying to lighten the mood slightly. ‘Annie obviously adores you, she also looks so much like you it’s scary… I like your tattoo by the way, the one with her name.’

Matty’s eyes drop down to his own chest and George can see the corners of his mouth turn up a little in a smile from this angle.

‘I actually got that for my grandma when she died… and when Lizzie had a girl, I just knew she had to be called Annie, you know? It was perfect.’

‘It is perfect,’ George agrees, and seeing Matty still looking sad despite his smile, he twists in his sitting position and moves so he can wrap his arms around Matty. The smaller man tenses up slightly as if unused to human contact, before melting into the hug and wrapping his arms around George in response. 

George hooks his chin over Matty’s shoulder, and in doing so he catches Adam and Ross staring at them, they’re both beaming and Ross gives him a wink which makes George grin into Matty’s shoulder. 

Both Adam and Ross had been recently pestering him to find someone now that Lola has started school. He’d gone on a date last month with a heavily tattooed and slightly scary looking girl that Ross knew from his school days. She’d been pleasant enough, but there was no spark, and they hadn’t spoken since. They also both knew that George was very much bisexual despite having never been in a proper relationship with a guy. George knew that Ross’s wink meant ‘get in there’, however, he was unsure about Matty, he didn’t think that Matty was that way inclined despite the sinfully tight jeans and girly blouse he’d been wearing earlier. George would be lying slightly if he said he hadn’t been very distracted when Matty had stripped off his shirt in his bedroom earlier.

George is jerked out of his musings by Ross coughing lightly and he and Matty spring apart quickly. Ross is grinning and Matty looks a bit like a deer in the headlights.

Ross holds his hand out to Matty and gives him a winning Ross smile.

‘Hey, buddy, I’m Ross, you’re Matty, right?’

‘Oh, hey, Ross… yeah, Matty… I’m Annie Healy’s dad.’

‘Ahhh, yes, your little doppelganger in the yellow dress!’

Matty smiles proudly at that and nods.

‘That’s the one, I hope she’s behaving herself, I’ve been a bit distracted, I should have been watching her, sorry!’ Matty gabbles out.

Ross shakes his head, chuckling. ‘Nah, mate, she’s a great kid, her and Lola are joined at the hip.’

George shoots Ross an appreciative smile, it’s impossible to feel awkward or weird around Ross, and he can tell that Matty is quickly becoming at ease.

He pats Matty on the shoulder and shuffles awkwardly off the bouncy castle.

‘Be right back, guys, just gonna sort out cake stuff!’

George decides that Matty will make friends with Ross quicker if he’s not there, and he really does need to sort out cake stuff.

He drops a kiss on the top of Lola’s head as he passes her, she grins up at him with pizza sauce all over her face which makes George beam because she definitely takes after him in that regard. George is literally incapable of eating without getting food fucking everywhere.

As he’s making his way into the kitchen George is ambushed by his mum who’s carrying a stack of empty plates.

‘So far so good, hey?’ He smiles at her, and she raises an eyebrow at him.

‘Who’s the boy, George?’ is all she has to say, and George rolls his eyes much like he would do as a teenager when his mum tried to intervene in his life. 

‘Mum, don’t… his name is Matty, he’s Annie’s dad… he just needed a hug, okay? So don’t read anything into the hug thing… he’s just a friend.’

Catherine looks at her son with a shrewd look on her face that says a thousand words before heading into the kitchen, making George sigh as he follows her.

**

George doesn’t get to see much of Matty for the next hour or so, preoccupied with making sure everyone gets cake and party bags, ensuring each child goes home with the correct parent at 6pm, and saying goodbye to his mum and Peter.

Lola and Annie have both fallen asleep on the sofa, both crashing from respective sugar highs, and George takes a photo of them cuddled him together which reminds him to ask Matty for his number so he can send it to him. 

He makes his way out into the garden where Matty, Ross and Adam are chatting, each holding a beer.

‘Fuck me, I’m exhausted,’ George groans, leaning back heavily against the wall.

‘Fuck you,’ Ross snorts. ‘Adam and I did most of the work, you dick!’

‘Yeah, fuck me, that’s what I said,’ George grins over at them.

Matty moves so he can lean against the wall next to George. George pulls his phone out then and brings up the photo of Lola and Annie cuddled up asleep on the sofa.

‘Want me to send it to you?’ George asks, and he notes the genuinely grateful look in Matty’s eyes as he nods.

‘Yeah, gimme your phone, I’ll put my number in.’

They exchange numbers and photos while Ross and Adam look on fondly, both exchanging know-it-all glances.

‘Right, boys,’ Adam announces, stretching a bit. ‘Ross and I better be off, we’re on the early shift and we need our beauty sleep.’

George rolls his eyes. ‘You’re both beautiful enough already.’

‘You’re full of shit,’ Ross retorts and George half-heartedly kicks him in the shin.

‘Seriously though, guys, thank you for your help, you know I couldn’t do any of this without you, right?’ 

Ross and Adam shrug before pulling George into a group hug.

Matty stands there a little awkwardly before George extricates an arm from the hug and beckons him forward. Matty shuffles in and George wraps an arm around him, pressing Matty into the hug properly and noting how well Matty fits into the crook of his arm.

They eventually all pull away and Adam laughs.

‘I swear we hug more than girls do.’

‘Nothing wrong with that,’ George grins as Ross and Adam grab their jackets.

‘See you Monday, buddy,’ Ross pats George on the shoulder before turning to Matty. ‘Nice to meet you, Matty, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of you!’

The alcohol seems to have loosened Matty up a little bit because Matty smiles warmly at Ross and nods. ‘I hope so, mate.’

George and Matty follow Ross and Adam to the door, careful to not make too much noise as to not wake the two sleeping girls, and once they’re gone George turns to Matty with a tired yet happy smile.

‘They like you.’

‘I like them,’ is Matty’s simple response. ‘This is the best day I’ve had in a long time, George.’

‘I’m glad,’ and George wants to hug Matty so badly his stomach twists with it, however Matty beats him to it and he leans up, wrapping his arms around George’s neck, giving him a quick squeeze, and pulling away.

‘I should be heading off too,’ Matty says quietly, a hint of sadness on his face as he heads into the living room.

He manages to pick Annie up without stirring her or Lola, and Annie wraps her arms around Matty’s neck in her sleep.

‘See you on Monday?’ Matty whispers and George nods, leaning down and picking up the sleeping Lola.

They both exchange almost secretive smiles as they say goodbye, and George stands in the doorway, watching as Matty walks down the driveway towards the bus stop, Annie still magically asleep in his arms. 

Lola stirs in his arms as he carries her up the stairs, and he manages to get her teeth brushed and into her pyjamas without too much of a fuss. 

And as George lays in bed that night thinking about the feel of Matty’s skin on his, and how well they had fitted together when they hugged, he has no way of knowing that, on the other side of town, Matty is reliving the entire day in his head, and falling asleep happy for the first time in months.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George is there when Matty needs him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has commented and left kudos so far!
> 
> I really like this chapter so please let me know what you think.

**Matty**  
The days after Lola’s birthday party have Matty walking around in a sort of hazy happiness, and not even Lizzie’s snide passing comments about his uselessness even come close to bringing him down. He genuinely has no idea why George is being so nice to him, but he’s also not stupid enough to question it too much, he simply feels grateful. None of Matty’s colleagues or (supposed) friends from his old job have even checked up on how he’s doing after he was let go, leaving Matty’s social circle depressingly depleted, in fact before George, the only people who ever texted him were Lizzie, and his mum. 

However, this all comes crashing down on Friday evening when Matty breaks the news to Lizzie that he didn’t get the job after all. He’d picked Annie up from school like usual, but even George’s jovial smile couldn’t assuage the sick feeling of dread in the bottom of his stomach. George had obviously asked what was wrong, had even suggested taking Lola and Annie to the park, ice creams on him to take his mind off things, but Matty had declined. All he wanted to do was go home and wallow. He’d mechanically made Annie’s dinner, his eyes constantly flicking to the clock, dreading 7pm when Lizzie usually got in. 

Despite all their problems, Matty and Lizzie always made an effort to eat dinner together, and tonight was no exception, Matty had even made Lizzie’s favourite, macaroni cheese with bacon, to try and ease the blow of the bad news he had to tell her.

‘Liz, I… I didn’t get that job,’ Matty says quietly over a relatively calm dinner, Lizzie was in a good mood after being tipped twenty quid by a customer apparently. 

Lizzie looked up from her plate of food and fixed him with an incredulous look. 

‘What?’ She asks, her teeth gritted slightly. 

‘I didn’t get it,’ he repeats, not wanting to meet her eye, however his eyes jerk up to her face as he feels her hand grip his wrist.

‘Are you fucking serious, Matty?’ He feels her fake nails dig into his wrist and he winces.

‘How the fuck are we supposed to pay the bills? The rent?’ Her tone is hushed but furious, careful to not alarm Annie who was obliviously playing with her Barbies on the floor next to the tv. 

‘I’ll find something!’ Matty gasps out and he feels her nails draw blood from his wrists and he yanks his arm away, his left wrist throbbing as blood trickles down onto his jeans.

Lizzie scoffs and looks at him condescendingly. 

‘My mum and dad told me something like this would happen when you proposed with that shitty ring,’ she sneers, and Matty feels the corners of his eyes prick with tears because that ‘shitty’ ring had cost him almost an entire month’s salary.

He feels tears start to drip slowly down his cheeks as he stands up.

‘Oh, don’t fucking cry,’ she hisses and Matty just shakes his head, pushing past her, pulling his jacket on as he grabs his keys before slamming the front door behind him.

He focuses on breathing deeply as he takes the stairs down two at a time. It’s starting to get dark and there’s drizzle in the air as Matty stops at the bottom of the stairs, his hands shaking as he pulls out his cigarettes and somehow manages to light one.

As he inhales deeply, he pulls his jacket sleeve up gingerly, the half-moon crescent shapes on his wrist are angry and bloody. Matty chokes back a sob, dropping his lit cigarette to the floor, and pressing his palms to his eyes to stem the flow of tears that threaten to overtake his body.

All Matty wants at this moment in time is George, so without even thinking about the implications of what this means, he starts walking.

The rain gets progressively heavier as he walks towards the bus stop, but he realises with a groan of ‘fuck!’ that he’s left his wallet back at the apartment, and so continues walking.

**

It takes Matty over an hour to walk the three miles to George’s house. He’s shivering uncontrollably and soaked to the skin by the time he knocks on George’s front door. Matty thinks vaguely that he’s glad it’s raining so that George can’t see how much he’s been crying, then instantly internally scolds himself because he refuses to be that much of a cliché, even in his own head. 

‘I’m sorry,’ Matty blurts out as George answers the door, and the look on George’s face is so comical that Matty almost wants to laugh.

‘Matty, what the fuck? It’s gone 9! Are you okay?’

‘I’ve definitely been better...’ Matty shakes his head as he laughs bitterly and looks down at his utterly ruined converse.

‘You’re fucking soaked, come in!’

Matty kicks off his shoes, and realising his socks are just as wet he pulls them off too, leaving them on the doorstep and stepping tentatively inside. 

George disappears into the house, leaving Matty alone, wet, and bewildered before reappearing holding a towel.

‘Take your jacket off,’ George instructs, and Matty is more than happy to let George take control the situation. He shrugs his sodden denim jacket off and hands it over in exchange for the towel which Matty wraps gratefully around himself. 

It’s only now that Matty takes in George’s appearance, he’s shirtless, his own hair is wet, and he’s wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama pants.

‘I just got out of the shower, don’t worry about Lola, she’s in bed’ George explains, a concerned expression gracing his features. ‘Seriously, Matty, what the hell?’

Matty wraps the towel tighter around himself, he’s still shivering but not nearly as violently as when he’d arrived.

‘I told her that I didn’t get the job… she didn’t take it too well,’ his eyes glance down at the angry welts on his arm and George’s eyes follow Matty’s.

‘Did she do that?’ George asks after taking a deep breath, like he’s trying to stay calm.

Matty just nods, looking up at George in time to see his eyes go dark.

‘C’mon, living room is through here,’ he leads Matty through into the inviting living room where some inane property show is playing quietly in the background.

‘Sit down.’

Matty does as he’s told, and George makes his way into the kitchen, coming back with a bottle of red wine, two glasses, and a First Aid box balanced precariously in his arms.  


Matty is struck by George’s unconditional kindness, and he feels the tears well up again. However, he does nothing to stop them this time, and he starts to sob quietly as he feels George sit down next to him on the sofa.

‘Hey, shh,’ George says softly, wrapping an arm around Matty’s shoulder as he cries. 

George takes Matty’s sore left wrist gently in his hands. ‘I need to clean this, okay?’

Matty looks up at George with watery eyes and nods.

‘I don’t deserve you being so nice to me,’ he says quietly.

‘Shut up, Matty,’ George replies but there’s no menace behind it as pours antiseptic onto a cloth and proceeds to clean the cuts on Matty’s wrists. Once he’s done, he wraps his wrist up gently in a bandage and gives Matty a small smile.

‘You were a very good patient; would you like one of Lola’s lollies I give her when she tidies up her toys without being asked?’

This draws a genuine smile from Matty but he shakes his head, sniffing, the tears slowing.

‘I’m okay… I’d fucking kill for a glass of that red though.’

George chuckles and pours two generous glasses, passing one to Matty who gulps half the glass down in one go, making George snort wine out of his nose, and dribble down onto his bare chest. This starts Matty off laughing and he clamps his hand over his mouth as he’s overcome with a bout of unstoppable hysterical laughter.

‘Shh!’ George giggles, pointing a finger up towards the ceiling. ‘Lola will hear you!’

‘Sorry!’ Matty gasps, trying to even out his breathing until his laughter is coming out hiccupy, his tears turned to those of laughter. He eventually stops and flops backwards on the sofa, grinning up at George who’s looking at him fondly.

‘It’s been ages since I laughed like that,’ Matty admits, running his fingers through his drying curls.

‘Laughter looks good on you.’

Matty flushes and looks down at his lap. ‘She hasn’t always been like this, you know?’

‘Who, Lizzie?’

‘Yeah… I mean she’s always been feisty, we’ve always fought… but she’s never been violent, or spiteful, I don’t know where it’s come from. I don’t know what to do to fix things.’  


Matty takes another deep sip of wine and sighs, rubbing his tired eyes.

‘Sounds daft, but have you spoken to her about it?’ George refills their glasses, and Matty is grateful he doesn’t have to ask. 

‘Well… yeah, but any time I bring up the fact that I have emotions, she shuts me down and calls me pathetic. She only cares that I don’t have a job, and therefore can’t pay the bills… I’m fucking trying, you know? I try so hard to be a good dad…’ Matty trails off and swallows thickly.

‘You are a good dad!’ George says defensively, placing a hand on Matty’s knee. ‘Annie adores you; anyone can see that! It’s not all about money, you love her unconditionally and Lizzie ignores that, but it’s the most important thing.’ 

‘I love Annie so much it scares me,’ Matty admits, and George nods.

‘I think it’s supposed to scare you, that’s the point.’

**

An hour later and Matty and George have polished off the rest of the wine, leaving them both tipsy and Matty feels warm and safe in the homeliness of George’s living room. 

‘Mind if I go for a smoke? I think it’s stopped raining.’

‘Sure,’ George smiles. ‘You can have one of mine, I think yours got fucked by the rain.’

George stands up, a little wobbly and goes upstairs, leaving Matty to try and stand up without falling over, he giggles a little to himself as he realises that he only had a few mouthfuls of dinner, explaining why he’s suddenly a pathetic lightweight.

George reappears wearing a hoodie and holding one out to Matty. ‘You’ll freeze out there in just your t-shirt.’

‘Cheers, mate.’

Matty pulls the hoodie over his head, and of course it completely drowns him. They head outside, and to their great relief it’s stopped raining, they huddle close together as George lights both their cigarettes and Matty grins.

‘I feel like a fucking teenager again, I used to sneak outside after my mum went to bed just so I could have a smoke!’

‘My mum still doesn’t know I smoke,’ George admits, making Matty giggle.

‘That’s quite impressive.’

‘I’m quite an impressive person, didn’t you know?’

‘Oh really?’

George nods earnestly, and Matty purses his lips, blowing smoke into George’s face.

‘Give over you dick!’ George laughs, elbowing Matty in the ribs lightly.

Matty leans back against the wall and looks up at George, his face suddenly serious.

‘I haven’t always been like this either by the way…’

‘Like what?’ George frowns.

‘Like I am now… anxious, sad, nervous… I used to be funny, I used to sing in bands, I used to write music and poetry.’

‘Maybe you can still do those things,’ George says softly. ‘You’re in a rut now, but it won’t be permanent…’

‘Maybe,’ Matty muses, because if he’s being honest, he genuinely thought that those things he used to be passionate about were a thing of the past.

He looks up at George who’s looking at him intently with a slightly furrowed brow.

‘Don’t think too hard there George, you might hurt yourself.’

‘I think you’re lovely,’ George blurts out, and Matty instantly regrets his previous sarcastic comment.

‘Bollocks,’ is Matty’s response, because he’s really, really bad at accepting compliments.

‘Not bollocks,’ George retorts, and before Matty knows what’s happening, George is kissing him, his lips are soft and warm, and Matty is too stunned to kiss back. 

George pulls away and swallows thickly. ‘Sorry… I didn’t mean… I mean I did, but I do… I do think you’re lovely…’ he rambles.

Matty stubs his cigarette out on the wall, his lips are tingling, and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He kissed a few guys in his younger years and received an awful blowjob from his cousin’s best mate at a wedding once, but that’s as far as his experience with guys goes, and he feels out of his depth.

‘Say something,’ George almost pleads, and Matty looks up at him once more. 

‘Kiss me again,‘ Matty says quietly, and George apparently doesn’t need asking twice, as he leans in, a cold hand cupping Matty’s cheek as their lips connect. It’s tentative at first, and Matty’s heart is beating so fast he feels slightly light-headed as George pulls him in to his warm chest. Matty’s on his tip toes as he wraps his arms around George’s shoulders, George deepening the kiss. He finds that he’s enjoying how large George feels pressed against his body, and he notices that George tastes like cigarettes and wine as he licks into his mouth, and Matty feels drunk on the taste alone. 

They eventually pull apart, George’s lips are red and wet, and Matty is taken aback by the force of want that rushes over his hypersensitive body. George leans his forehead against Matty’s and smiles. ‘Do you believe me now?’

Matty nods, licking at his lips, desperate to savour the taste of George for a few more seconds.

‘Lizzie’s a fool for not seeing how lovely you are.’

Matty shuts his eyes and smiles down at the floor. He thinks he should feel guilty, but he doesn’t. George wraps his arms around him and Matty melts into the hug, feeling a weight lift from his chest. He has no idea what any of this means… is this an alcohol thing? Matty finds himself really hoping this isn’t an alcohol thing, and despite how huggy George is with Adam and Ross, he feels like George probably doesn’t do this with them! 

They eventually pull away from the hug and George lets out a loud yawn as they head back inside.

‘I already assumed you were, but I thought I should ask, you’re staying the night, yeah?’

‘If that’s okay?’ Matty says sheepishly. ‘I can sleep on the sofa.’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ George smiles, ‘I have a fucking king size bed, I know I’m tall, but I don’t take up that much space.’

‘Is this some kind of ruse to get me in your bed, George Daniel?’

George rolls his eyes and turns off the lights. ‘If I was really putting the moves on you, you’d know it, Matty.’

‘I don’t doubt that,’ Matty retorts and he feels something warm stir in the pit of his stomach. It’s been a long time since Matty flirted with anyone, and he’s reminded of how nice it feels.

They tiptoe upstairs and into George’s room where George takes off his hoodie and flings it onto the ground before falling face first into bed with a groan. 

Matty takes the hoodie off, awkwardly shucking off his skinny jeans so he’s just standing there in a t-shirt and boxers. 

‘You lied by the way,’ Matty smiles.

‘How?’ comes George’s muffled reply from the pillow.

‘You totally take up the whole fucking bed.’

George makes an exaggerated show of moving over to the left side of the bed, allowing Matty to climb in the other side. He lays down on his side and looks over at George.

‘Thank you for tonight… I’d probably be passed out on a park bench if it wasn’t for you.’

George leans over and kisses Matty gently on the forehead.

‘No park bench sleeping while I’m around, Matthew.’

They lapse into a comfortable silence, and eventually George’s soft snores fill the room.

‘I think you’re rather lovely too…’ Matty admits softly into the quiet room before his eyes close and he drifts off into blissful uncomplicated sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one gets a little bit sexy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter isn't quite as long as the others, I'm on holiday at the moment!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! <3
> 
> Your comments keep me going!

**George**

George wakes up early the following morning, his arms are wrapped around Matty’s sleeping form and George’s face is pressed into the crook of his neck. George is momentarily horrified to realise that he’s been drooling on Matty and contemplates trying to wipe it off before deciding that he’s way too comfortable and doesn’t want to disturb the sleeping man in his arms. George also realises in this moment that at some point in the night, Matty must have discarded his shirt. He glances over at his alarm clock illuminating the softly lit room, the clock reads 6:40 which floods him with relief, he’s got about an hour until Lola wakes, and he intends to savour every minute of this. 

Matty makes some muffled sleepy noises and shifts a little in George’s arms. George knows he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised to see Matty show up the way he did last night, but this had been quickly replaced with anger when he had seen what Lizzie had done to him. Honestly, he hadn’t even really meant to kiss Matty, they had only known each other for a few weeks, but he’d looked so beautiful, and all George had wanted was to let him know that he was worthy of some sort of kindness and love. George didn’t even know if Matty was into guys, for fuck’s sake!

George knew that he had only really scratched the surface of the real Matty, but there had been glimpses of the man that George knew Matty wanted to be. He feels his resolve to help Matty increase as he leans in and presses his nose into Matty’s hair, breathing in and closing his eyes. It had been years since he’d last held someone like this, and George felt a warmth stir in the pit of his stomach as Matty wriggles slightly, their bare skin pressed together.

‘Mornin,’ George hears Matty mumble into the pillow, and he swallows a little, not moving his face from where it’s firmly planted in Matty’s hair. 

‘Mmmhh,’ George breathes out before Matty shifts in George’s arms, rolling over so that they’re lying face to face. He fondly notes that Matty has pillow crease marks on his face.

‘Morning,’ he smiles sleepily at Matty who’s face is bleary with sleep, his hair a complete mess and sticking up at all possible angles. He still looks breath-taking, George muses idly. 

Matty gives George a slightly bemused but genuine smile. ‘I slept like a fucking baby.’

George nods in agreement, reaching his hand out to brush a strand of hair from Matty’s eyes, his hand ending up cupping Matty’s cheek gently.

George’s eyes meet Matty’s in the softly lit room, and George finds his heart beating so fast that he’s sure Matty must be able to hear it.

‘We should probably talk about this,’ Matty says softly, his bottom lip between his teeth which George is starting to recognise as a trait Matty displays when he’s particularly anxious. ‘I mean we’ve only known each other a few weeks… and Lizzie…’

‘Fuck Lizzie,’ George says vehemently, almost taking himself by surprise at the anger her name invokes in him. Matty looks like he’s about to protest but George continues. ‘She hurt you, Matty… and don’t even try and tell me it was an accident, she hurt you and it makes me so fu- ‘ 

Matty cuts him off by crowding him against the bed and pressing their lips together forcefully, and George doesn’t even hesitate as he wraps his arms around the smaller man. The kiss is far from perfect, there’s too much teeth but Matty is panting against his mouth which makes George groan, pulling Matty on top of him with ease.

Matty suddenly breaks the kiss, looking down at George with dark, glassy eyes. George runs his hands up Matty’s pale thighs, neither man breaking eye contact. George notices the tattoo on Matty’s hip and thinks that he really wants to fucking bite it, and the outline of Matty’s obviously hard cock through his boxers makes his mouth water.

‘What are you thinking?’ Matty ask quietly, still a little breathless.

‘That I want to get my mouth on you,’ George replies thickly. 

Matty flushes and nods which is all George needs, his hands sliding around to Matty’s arse and flipping him back over so Matty’s on his back. George kneels between Matty’s legs and feels his own cock twitch as he sees that Matty’s cock is leaking, making his boxers damp.

‘Oh my god,’ George murmurs as he tugs Matty’s boxers down, throwing them across the room as he leans down and runs his tongue slowly over the ink on Matty’s hip. Matty shudders which encourages George to lick lower, and George completely forgets his nerves at not having done this in a very fucking long time. 

He drags his fingers lightly down Matty’s thighs, resisting the urge to touch himself while he drags his tongue lightly over the head of Matty’s cock.

‘George,’ comes Matty’s groan, his hips lifting off the bed, and a tiny voice in George’s head wonders when the last time Matty had sex was, judging by how responsive he is, George guesses it’s been a while. 

George licks a slow line down the length of Matty’s cock, savouring the taste, palming his own erection through his pyjama pants.

‘Shit!’ Matty gasps out, his hands automatically going to George’s hair, tugging a little. This elicits a loud groan from George as he takes Matty into his mouth.

‘You like that?’ Matty moans, pulling on George’s hair again, and George nods the best he can as he focuses on relaxing his throat as he swallows Matty down. 

‘I don’t think I’m gonna last long,’ Matty groans as George holds his hips down, bobbing his head slowly. George knows the feeling, his hand now firmly in his pyjama pants, stroking himself firmly, it’s too dry but George loves the drag and pull, his stomach tightening.

George runs his tongue over the leaking slit of Matty’s cock, and Matty lets out the most obscene noise George thinks he’s ever heard in his life, making his cock pulse in his hand. He groans around Matty’s cock, and the vibrations tip Matty over the edge as he spills into George’s mouth, George’s name on his lips.

George swallows, his face flushed and throat muscles sore. He pulls his cock out of his pyjama pants and comes in a few quick strokes, spilling himself all over Matty’s stomach, his head tipped back.

Matty giggles weakly, and George stares down at him, his face and chest are flushed and his lips are swollen from where he’s obviously been biting them to try and stay quiet.

George tucks himself back into his pants and flops down next to Matty, a satisfied look on his face.

‘Y’know… I haven’t had any kind of sex in like 3 years,’ Matty admits as George leans over and grabs a box of tissues, cleaning himself off Matty’s stomach. 

‘Well, I haven’t had any kind of sex since before Lola was born so I win,’ George laughs, pulling the covers over them. ‘And it seems a bit redundant to ask you this now but… I’m guessing you’re not straight?’

Matty snorts and shakes his head. ‘Well… I’ve kissed a few guys, fooled around with a guy at a wedding once… I dunno what I am really, I don’t really care about someone’s gender, if I like them then I like them I guess.’

‘I’m bi,’ George admits. ‘Never been in a relationship with a man though, but I’ve slept with quite a few.’ 

Matty’s eyes crinkle in a smile and he leans over to kiss George gently on the lips.

‘Well I promise you, I definitely didn’t have any of this in mind when I knocked on your door last night. I was so out of it, she hurt me, and I just wanted to see you. I didn’t even pick my phone or wallet up… she has no idea where I am, and I just… yeah. I don’t know what that means.’

George doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just kisses Matty once more. He doesn’t want to think about the implications of any of this right now, he’s content to just enjoy having this beautiful, kind, yet broken man in in his arms. 

‘Daddy?’ 

George pulls away from Matty quickly at the sound of his daughter’s voice, she’s standing in the doorway, her hair messy and rubbing her eyes.

‘Daddy, I heard noises… are you okay?’ 

Matty darts under the covers next to him and he can feel Matty laughing silently by the way his shoulders are shaking.

‘Yes, yes, baby everything is okay. It’s still early, go back to sleep for a little bit, yeah?’

‘Daddy I’m awake, it’s sunny so it’s morning.’

George can’t argue with that logic, so he nods.

‘Okay, well go downstairs, and I’ll be down in a second… it’s Saturday, and you know what Saturday means don’t you, Lolaloops.’

‘Pancakes!’ Lola squeals, clapping her hands together.

‘Yep. Right, daddy needs to put some clothes on, I’ll be downstairs in a sec.’

Lola closes the door behind her as she leaves, and George lets out a low whistle as he hears Matty snort from under the covers.

George slides under the covers too to find Matty creased up in laughter.

‘Daddy needs to put some clothes on,’ Matty winks and George slaps him lightly on the arm.

‘Shut up, you’re the reason I’m so debauched right now.

‘Who even uses the word debauched?’

‘People called George do.’

Matty rolls his eyes and throws the covers off them, grabbing his discarded boxers and t-shirt and pulling them on.

George grins over at Matty. ‘How do you feel about George’s Special Saturday Morning Pancake Bonanza?’

‘Sounds cute _and _delicious.’__

__‘You’re cute and delicious,’ George teases._ _

__‘That was a very smooth line. I’m impressed.’_ _

__‘I did tell you last night, I’m pretty impressive.’_ _

__‘You know what, Mr Daniel, I’m starting to believe you on that one.’_ _


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matty deals with his demons.
> 
> George gives in to his urges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think.
> 
> I've re-written this chapter like 3 times and I'm still not happy!
> 
> 1 comment = 1 hug for sad Matty.

**Matty**

The almost scalding hot water cascades over Matty’s body, and he leans his head back against the shower wall, taking a second to just focus on breathing in and out. Slowly.

His head is all over the place, and as wonderful as George is being, the tiny nagging voice in his head is getting louder, and with this, Matty is feeling progressively more and more guilty. He wonders if Lizzie was worried about him not coming home, and not taking his phone, finally deciding on no being the answer, although he hopes she made up something plausible to tell Annie. Matty hates the idea of Annie being upset because of him. Matty thinks about George making pancakes downstairs with Lola, and the guilt twists inside him even more. He hasn’t cheated on Lizzie since before she got pregnant, and Matty honestly thought he’d gained mastery over his sexual urges. Having said that, it’s been a fucking age since Lizzie has shown him any kind of sexual affection, and he was starting to become desperate, despite his best efforts to quash these feelings. 

The stirring in Matty’s belly at the thought of how good George’s mouth had felt wrapped around his cock catches him off guard, and he shudders a little, goosebumps erupting across his skin. He groans and grabs his cock roughly, tugging it a little to ease the pressure building. 

‘Fuck,’ he hisses, almost embarrassed to think that it really wouldn’t take much to have him spilling all over himself with barely any contact. 

Matty shakes his head and turns the water off, grabbing the towel from the side and wrapping it around his waist, deciding to not leave the bathroom until his boner has gone down. He leans against the sink and shuts his eyes, although they’re rudely jerked open by the sound of the bathroom door opening, revealing George standing in the doorway. 

‘Pancakes are…,’ he trails off, and he unabashedly looks Matty up and down which causes Matty to feel painfully self-conscious.

‘Ready?’ Matty supplies helpfully, his eyes meeting George’s.

‘You’re hard,’ George says, more like a question than a statement. 

Matty nods, swallowing, and George walks towards him slowly. He leans in so his breath is hot against Matty’s ear, and he breathes softly, ‘I want to lick every fucking inch of you,’ before pulling away, closing the bathroom door behind him as he leaves. 

Matty’s legs feel weak and he lets out the breath that he was holding, he’s pretty sure that all the blood in his body has shot directly to his cock. 

Matty’s also pretty sure that he’d let George lick every fucking inch of him any fucking day of the week. 

**

Matty appears downstairs fifteen minutes later wearing yesterday’s now dry clothes, however, what George doesn’t know is that Matty is wearing a pair of his boxers… a particularly festive pair depicting a pair of Christmas baubles with the words ‘WELL HUNG’ around the waistband. 

‘Good morning,’ George says with a knowing smirk, and Lola looks up from her plate of pancakes and Nutella. 

‘Matty!’ She exclaims, her eyes going wide with excitement. ‘Is Annie here?!’

‘Sorry, sweetheart,’ Matty shakes his head, and George points at the plate set out next to him where there’s a plate of pancakes waiting for him. ‘She’s at home with her mummy.’

Lola’s face falls and Matty feels bad, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll bring Annie next time, maybe you two can have a sleepover, if it’s okay with daddy?’

‘Daddy says yes,’ George smiles at Lola who seems appeased by this, he then chances a glance at Matty who’s now tucking eagerly into his pancakes. 

‘These are amazing,’ Matty groans.

‘Daddy is the king of pancakes,’ Lola nods knowingly, wiping the Nutella from around her face.

‘He really is,’ Matty agrees, and George winks at him before picking up his and Lola’s plates and putting them in the sink. 

‘Right, Lola, Nana will be here in twenty minutes to pick you up for ballet, so we need hair and teeth brushed, and ballet uniform on super quick, do you think we can manage it?’

‘Team Daniel!’ Lola squeals and Matty grins down at his quickly diminishing plate of pancakes because George is so fucking charming as a dad it hurts.

‘Team Daniel!’ George echoes, scooping Lola off her chair and over his shoulder.

Matty looks up at George, ‘Hey, do you think I could borrow your phone? I need to ring Liz…’ 

‘It’s on the counter,’ George says softly, and giving Matty an encouraging smile he nods his head in the direction of the phone and Matty squeezes George’s free hand. 

‘Thanks.’

Matty finishes his pancakes as he hears George and Lola’s laughter get fainter as the make their way up the stairs. He takes a deep breath and dials Lizzie’s mobile number, his fingers shaking slightly. The phone only rings once before Lizzie picks up.

‘Matty, is that you?’ Her voice sounds partly apprehensive, and partly angry, and Matty vaguely wonders how that combination of moods is even possible at this early hour.

‘Yeah, it’s me,’ Matty says quietly, staring at his feet on the cool wooden floor.

‘Where the fuck are you?’ 

‘Sorry… I uhh… I stayed around a friend’s house,’ he stutters out, swallowing the lump in his throat. Matty can pretty much tell she wants to say that he doesn’t have any friends, but she surprises him by completely bypassing this fact.

‘Right… well I’m taking Annie to the zoo with mum today, she was upset after you left and promising her the zoo was the only way to get her to go calm down and go to sleep.’

Matty’s heart feels like it drops to the bottom of his stomach and he feels his eyes sting, the last thing he wanted was to upset Annie. Why is he so fucking selfish?

‘Oh… okay, I’ll see you later?’

‘Yeah,’ She hangs up without another word and Matty takes a deep breath, trying to not let his emotions get the better of him too badly. George has seen him crying far too much in their short friendship for him to let that happen.

Matty’s fingers itch for a cigarette and he rubs his hands together, a headache starting at the base of his neck. He knew the happiness he felt last night with George had to be fleeting, Matty didn’t deserve nice things, he was shit fiancé, an even shitter father, and an all-around waste of space.

Matty is broken out of his reverie by the doorbell ringing, followed by the sound of George and Lola’s footsteps on the stairs. He hardly hears the exchange which is punctuated by the sound of the front door shutting, and then George’s footsteps into the kitchen.

‘Matty, are you okay?’ Matty hears the concern in his voice without looking up.

‘I made Annie sad…’ Matty says softly. ‘And Liz didn’t sound like she cared that I even left.’

‘Oh,’ George sighs softly, his arms going to wrap around Matty’s hunched over form, he presses his lips to Matty’s still slightly damp hair.

‘I should probably head back,’ Matty says quietly, pulling out of George’s hold. He looks up at George whose sad eyes mirror his own. George leans in and presses a soft kiss to Matty’s forehead which makes Matty’s heart ache because George is so kind, and fuck knows why he cares about Matty.

Matty cups George’s cheeks with his cool fingers and kisses George lightly on the lips which George instantly deepens, Matty’s lower back pressed against the kitchen counter. They kiss like this for what feels like an age, and Matty’s chest is aching, the guilt feeling like it’s going to engulf him.

George breaks the kiss first and presses his forehead against Matty’s. ‘I don’t know what this is between us… but I want you to know that I’m here okay? If you need to talk, or cry… just text me, call me… anything.’ 

‘Thanks,’ Matty says weakly, running his thumbs under his eyes to catch the few tears that escaped.

George grabs his wallet from the drawer next to them and pulls out a fiver, sliding it into Matty’s hand. ‘For the bus… you said you didn’t have your wallet, and I’m not having you walk all that way, okay?’

Matty gives him a watery smile and nods. ‘Thanks,’ he repeats.

George escorts him to the front door where Matty pulls on his still wet shoes from last night.

‘I’ll text you when I’m home,’ Matty assures George who nods and opens the front door.

‘See you soon, Matty.’

‘See you, George.’

**

The next few weeks go relatively smoothly to Matty’s wary yet pleasant surprise. Him and Lizzie don’t talk about what happened that night, which Matty knows is not healthy, but things are better, or at least better than they were. Matty is still jobless, but he’s feeling okay about that too, something will come along eventually.

Matty and George have started up the habit of texting daily, with George replying on his breaks at work, and Matty eagerly awaits these texts, like a teenage girl with a dumb crush. It’s dumb stuff mostly, like when George texted him that time he saw a pigeon at the park that looked ‘shifty’. He’s come to admit that _maybe_ he has a tiny bit of a crush on George, if twenty-five-year-old men can even have crushes, that is. 

The weather turns much colder as September turns into October, and Matty and George go to the park most days after school with Lola and Annie playing in the leaves while they discuss music, films, childhoods, and everything in between. Neither of them bring up the night that Matty came round, and Matty thinks that’s for the best really, chalking it up to a blip, a momentary flash of weakness and madness. 

A couple of days before Halloween find Matty sprawled on the sofa, a notebook propped on his knee while reruns of some old comedy show play quietly in the background, Lizzie is at birthday drinks with a colleague, and Annie is tucked up in bed. Matty is tapping the notebook lightly with his pen, at the top of the page he’s scrawled the words ‘I don’t wanna be your friend… I wanna kiss your neck’ followed by ‘I think I’m falling for you’, he frowns down at the words on the page, it’s been years since he wrote lyrics, and feels like he may have lost his touch slightly. 

Matty’s phone vibrates on the table next to him, and he blindly grabs for it, smiling as he knows it’s from George.

 **George:** Matty I have a problem…

 _Matty:_ Shit what is it, are you okay? X

 **George:** I can’t stop thinking about how you tasted and it’s driving me crazy 

Matty sits up straight at that, his notebook falling to the floor, his heart thudding wildly in his chest. He wasn’t expecting that. His fingers pause over the screen because he honestly doesn’t know how to reply, when his phone vibrates again.

 **George:** Sorry if that was out of the blue but it’s true (haha that rhymed oh god I’m such a dad)

Matty laughs despite himself and decides to be fucking brave for a change. He calls George.

George picks up on the second ring.

‘Um, hey,’ George says warily, and Matty feels bad, George probably thinks Matty is going to yell at him, seeing as everything that happened between them hasn’t been mentioned once.

‘You’ve been thinking about me,’ Matty says boldly, grabbing the remote and switching the tv off.

‘Is that okay?’

Matty laughs, almost feeling shy because George apparently has that affect on him. ‘It’s okay, George…’

‘Well then… what if I told you that I’m touching myself right now?’

Matty licks his lips, feeling the familiar warmth stirring low in his stomach.

‘What… what are you thinking about?’ Matty asks, his voice catching a little at the beginning because he’s never fucking done this before and doesn’t really know how this kind of thing goes.

‘I’m thinking about good you tasted, how you filled my mouth up,’ George’s voice has gone almost impossibly low and it shoots straight to Matty’s cock, it makes him groan and shift a little.

‘It felt so good,’ Matty says quietly, the phone pressed close to his ear, his right hand going down to palm himself through his jeans.

Matty hears George ‘hmmm’ low through the phone and he shuts his eyes, imagining what George looks like right now. Maybe he’s lying on his bed, his boxers down by his ankles while he pumps his cock, head thrown back…

‘I wish I could see you now,’ Matty groans out, before even really registering what he’s saying, undoing the button on his jeans as his cock is now straining at the denim.

‘Fuck, Matty,’ George gasps, and Matty is certain he can hear the slick sounds of George stroking himself quickly.

Matty is panting now as he pulls his cock out of his jeans, wrapping a hand around himself and groaning at the light contact. He pushes his shirt up and over his head, running his hands up and down his bare chest, shivering as he grazes his nipples.

‘You sound so good, Matty,’ George growls, making Matty shudder and squeeze his eyes shut.

‘I’m touching myself,’ Matty says in almost a whisper, his skin feels electric and his heart his beating so fast he can feel his body thrumming with it.

‘What are you doing to me, Matty?’ George sighs, and Matty loves how George says his name like that.

Matty lets out a shuddery groan, his hand moving faster. ‘I want you so fucking bad, George… I want to pull your hair while you suck me…’

George rasps out a cry and that tips Matty over the edge, spilling all over his stomach, his toes curling against the carpet.

‘Oh fuck,’ George whines, and Matty wishes more than anything that he could see George now, all spent and flushed, covered in cum.

‘That was…’ Matty trails off.

‘Yeah,’ George pants down the phone. ‘Sorry… I just, yeah… I needed that.’

‘Me too apparently,’ Matty chuckles lightly, grabbing his shirt with his spare hand and wiping his stomach clean.

They’re both silent for a few minutes and Matty stands up, making his way to the bathroom, his phone pressed between his ear and shoulder. He locks the bathroom door and puts George on speaker, chucking his dirty shirt in the wash before sitting down on the edge of the bath.

‘What is this, George?’ Matty sighs quietly, the guilt surfacing now the high of his orgasm has faded.

‘I don’t know,’ George says simply.

Matty rubs at his face and shuts his eyes, saying nothing.

‘I should go…’

‘Yeah… yeah, me too… umm, do you still want Annie and I over for the sleepover tomorrow night?’

‘Of course,’ George replies, but he sounds sad, the guilt doubles inside Matty.

‘Cool.’

‘Cool.’

Matty hangs up, the desire to throw his phone against the wall in anger threatens to overtake him but he takes a deep breath, staring at his own reflection in the mirror. He truly loathes the man that stares back at him.

He goes to the kitchen and pours himself a large glass of wine before heading back into the living room, picking up the discarded notebook from earlier, staring at the scribbled words on the page.

Matty feels sick to his stomach as the realisation that perhaps there was some truth behind these words after all hits him like a fucking sledgehammer. 

_I don’t wanna be your friend… I wanna kiss your neck._


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the sleepover.
> 
> Pretty cute and domestic tbh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH you're all so amazing, thank you so much for the lovely comments!
> 
> Keep them coming because you're honestly all motivating me so much.
> 
> After the clusterfuck of the last chapter, I actually quite like this one.
> 
> <3

**George**

George is stressed. Stressed and anxious. He’s up to his elbows in cupcake batter, and Matty and Annie are due to arrive in just over half an hour. He’s determined to make Lola’s first sleepover a success, despite the overwhelming awkwardness that hangs over his relationship with Matty after last night’s phone call. He’d had Adam and Ross over last night, and they’d had a few too many drinks, his mum had been babysitting Lola, because George isn’t an irresponsible parent thank you very much. Once Adam and Ross had gone home, in George’s tipsy state, he’d texted Matty that risky text without even considering the consequences, hell, he didn’t even really think Matty would reply, let alone call him.

George slides the cupcakes into the oven and runs his hands through his hair, heading into the living room where he’d left Lola in charge of building a duvet fort for her and Annie. George thinks this might have been a mistake in hindsight as Lola as just piled a load of cushions on the floor and is laying on the floor wrapped up in the duvet like a burrito.

‘Lola, that’s not looking very fort like, is it?’ George scolds playfully.

‘It’s a flat fort,’ Lola giggles, only her head peeking out from the duvet burrito.

George grins down at his daughter, grabbing the edge of the duvet and unravelling Lola until she’s squealing with laughter. He’s hit with a wave of love so strong for her that he stops in his tracks, and Lola gets to her feet.

‘Can you help me, daddy?’

‘Of course, silly, grab those cushions over there and stack them on top of each other.’

She follows his instructions and after 20 minutes and a lot of giggling George thinks they’ve made a pretty successful pillow fort as the buzzer goes off for the cakes.

George realises with alarm that he’s got approximately 10 minutes until they arrive, he takes deep breath and proceeds to take the cakes out, his plan being for Lola and Annie to ice them after they’ve had their dinner.

‘Daddy, they’re here!’ George hears Lola call from the living room. He checks his appearance in the hall mirror quickly before opening the front door to reveal Matty and Annie, Matty looks somewhat like a packhorse with his own overnight bag slung over his shoulder, coupled with Annie’s My Little Pony one which contrasts wonderfully with the ripped black jeans and black leather jacket, George muses. 

Matty raises an awkward hand and George can tell that the smile on his faced is a forced effort for Annie.

‘Hey,’ George says, mustering up a cheerful tone in his voice. ‘Come in, it’s freezing!’

‘Annie! Annie! I made us a fort, come see!’ Lola shrieks, and George does wonder sometimes why children have to do everything at such a loud volume.

Lola and Annie go running off into the living room leaving Matty with the bags, and George standing there awkwardly which he hates, George is never awkward as a rule. He gives Matty a smile which he hopes looks genuine and not nervous as fuck.

‘I didn’t know you were a fan of My Little Pony,’ George decides to go for joking and light-hearted, it makes Matty scoff though, which is a start at least.

‘Oh yeah, big fan. Love that… Rainbow one?’

‘Rainbow Dash, Matty, come on… and you call yourself a fan!’

Matty chuckles and takes the offending bag off his shoulder and thrusts it into George’s hands, making George laugh, mainly from relief as he can feel the awkwardness dissipating between them. 

‘C’mon… let’s drop the bags upstairs, also… I totally built that duvet fort, don’t let Lola fool you, okay?’

‘Of course, lead the way, Georgie.’

_Georgie._ Hmm. That’s a new one.

George leads them upstairs, opening the door to Lola’s bedroom.

‘Oh wow, Annie will be jealous, she’s been bugging me for a bunk bed for ages,’ Matty’s eyes are glancing around the obnoxiously pink room.

‘It… uh, it actually used to be my bunk bed when I was a kid, I just painted it pink for her,’ George explains with a smile, placing Annie’s backpack on the bottom bunk.

Matty smiles at this and shakes his head. ‘Of course you did, George, you’re a man of many talents…’

He leaves the end of the sentence hanging and George flushes a little at the implication of Matty’s words, he decides not to comment, unsure of how far he can push things after last night. George shuts Lola’s bedroom door and makes his way over to his own bedroom uncertainly, Matty following behind him.

‘You can… leave your stuff in here for now,’ he gestures at the bed and Matty puts his bag down before turning to George.

‘For now?’

‘Well… I assumed… I mean after last night…’ George trails off, his eyes meeting Matty’s unreadable ones. 

‘I don’t know how I feel about last night…’ Matty admits, chewing on his bottom lip a little. ‘…but I do know that all I want to do right now is kiss you and it’s driving me crazy.’

‘I want to kiss you too,’ George says thickly, taking a step towards Matty tentatively.

‘Do it then.’

‘But… the girls,’ George stutters, his tongue suddenly feeling far to big for his own mouth.

‘They’ll be okay for a minute,’ Matty almost whispers, and he closes the gap between them before George can protest anymore.

There’s no hesitance in the kiss, Matty has his arms around George’s neck in seconds, and George runs his tongue along the seam of Matty’s lips, and, groaning at the taste, George completely loses himself in the feel of Matty all over him.

‘George,’ Matty pants, and George just shakes his head, kissing him harder as he manoeuvres himself so he can lift Matty up, pressing him up against the closed bedroom door.

He pulls away from the kiss after a few more seconds, buries his face in Matty’s neck, and inhales the smell of strawberry shampoo and cigarettes, he can feel Matty’s warm breath ghosting against his skin, it makes him shudder. 

‘What are you doing to me?’ Matty mumbles and George swallows, about to answer when he hears Lola call for him from downstairs. He lowers Matty down to the floor, his own legs feeling a little unsteady.

‘Later,’ he says quietly, as he gives Matty’s hand a quick squeeze, opening the bedroom door and letting Matty out into he hallway, George can see that Matty’s pupils are dark, and George honestly just wants to throw Matty down on his bed and have his way with him, but he can’t. Not yet.

George and Matty don’t really get any time to talk for the next couple of hours. George cooks pizza (from scratch) for the four of them, and Lola and Annie have fun decorating the cupcakes, and getting more icing around their mouths than on the actual cupcakes, but George still considers this a success. Once the girls are in their pjs and ensconced in their duvet fort watching Moana, George and Matty collapse on the sofa, well deserved beers in their hands. George loves Moana but he spends most of the movie watching Matty’s reaction out of the corner of his eyes. They’re sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, but their feet keep touching, and George is enchanted by the small smile on Matty’s face every time this happens. 

It’s only once the girls are tucked up in bed that they feel free to talk properly, they’ve returned to their sides of the sofa, a second beer in their hands when Matty pipes up.

‘What you did earlier is probably one of the hottest things that’s ever happened to me by the way.’ 

He says it so casually that George blinks and turns to face him.

‘The wall thing?’ George enquires, sipping his beer.

‘You know what I’m talking about,’ Matty says rolling his eyes.

George coughs. ‘Yeah… sorry, I got carried away. I just thought after last night that you weren’t interested, and then you told me you wanted to kiss me, I thought I might as well just fucking go for it, you know?’

Matty rubs the back of his neck and nods, looking down at his lap.

‘I don’t know what I’m doing, George,’ Matty says softly. ‘I think it’s more than clear that I like you… but everything is so complicated. I could leave Liz… I should leave her… but she’d take Annie. I’m jobless and useless, it’s too messy.’

George places a hand on the Matty’s foot nearest him and gives it a squeeze.

‘What about your mum? Could she help at all? Or your dad?’

‘Mum lives in London,’ Matty explains. ‘She moved down there to live with her new boyfriend about two years ago, she took my brother with her…’

George’s eyes widen at this. ‘You have a brother? Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Matty?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Matty sighs. ‘I’m not really that used to people being that interested, and I guess it never came up… his name is Louis, he’s thirteen. I haven’t seen him since last Christmas… and my dad, he’s not very good with communication, I tend to not really bother him… neither of them know I lost my job.’

George honestly feels like chastising Matty for not asking his family for help, but he feels that this is probably not the time or place for that.

‘Come here,’ George says simply, and opens his arms for Matty who shuffles over to him on the sofa, settling into George’s arms and closing his eyes. ‘I like you too, by the way,’ he muffles into the top of Matty’s head.

‘I gathered that,’ Matty laughs softly, his arms going around George’s middle.

‘So… what do we do now?’ George asks.

Matty pauses for a second. ‘Well… I’ve decided that the guilt I keep feeling whenever anything happens between us is fucking stupid… like last night, I just… I hated myself, but that’s so daft. Liz treats me like shit, and she must know that the only reason we’re still even together is Annie anyway…’

‘You deserve happiness,’ George states simply, kissing the top of Matty’s head.

Matty twists in George’s lap and looks up at George. ‘You make me happy, George.’ He presses his soft lips to George’s briefly before sliding back into his previous position and shutting his eyes.

‘Shall we go upstairs?’ George suggests, suppressing a yawn.

‘Pervert.’

‘To sleep,’ George laughs. ‘I think you’re the pervert here.’

Matty stretches, and sits up, yawning loudly.

‘Want me to carry you upstairs?’ George teases, jokingly.

Matty nodes earnestly, making George snort. ‘I was actually joking, but I can do if you like… want me to pretend I’m your big strong fireman?’

‘That’s hot.’

George laughs and picks Matty up with ease, placing him over his shoulder so Matty’s arse is in the air.

‘This is very undignified, George!’

‘I never said it would be… also you weigh fucking nothing, how is that possible?’

Matty’s laugh turns into a squeak as George makes his way up the stairs.

‘Shhhh!’

He throws Matty down onto his bed which makes Matty giggle into the mattress, his arse still in the air, and George’s mind is instantly filled with all manner of dirty things that are entirely inappropriate when there are children in the house. 

‘That’s a good angle,’ George smirks and Matty rolls over, undoing his jeans as he does so.

‘Don’t even lie,’ Matty grins. ‘Every girl I’ve ever been with has complained about my lack of a bum.’

George shrugs as he starts to undress too. ‘I like it… also, just so you know, if Annie and Lola weren’t next door, I’d be doing unspeakable things to you right now, is that okay?’

Matty’s eyebrows shoot up, and he swallows visibly. ‘Yeah… yeah I think that’s more than okay… another time though? Please?’

George grins and climbs into bed now in only his boxers. ‘Eager?’

It’s Matty’s turn to shrug now, he’s also now just boxer clad, and George just wants to lick him all over.

‘So what if I am?’

‘Touché.’

George grabs Matty and pulls him into his chest, just wanting to feel Matty’s warm skin pressed against his own.

‘I think this is now my happy place,’ Matty says softly into George’s shoulder and George just nods in agreement, closing his eyes.

George can’t help but feel, as he drifts off to sleep, that he wants to fall asleep like this every night from now on.

**

The following morning George and Matty take the girls to the park, it’s a cold and grey Sunday morning so the park is quiet with the exception of a few dog walkers and joggers. George buys himself and Matty styrofoam cups of coffee from a kiosk as Lola and Annie play on the swings, giggling and squealing. George and Matty sit close together on the park bench, engaged in a heated but friendly argument about who the best rock guitarist of all time is, (Matty is adamant about Slash but George vehemently defends Brian May) and during a pause in the discussion Matty puts his coffee cup down and slides his warm hand into George’s, smiling sweetly, his cheeks flushed with cold, dark curls falling out of his messy bun. Butterflies take flight in George’s stomach, and he knows in that moment that he’s totally fucked, in the best way possible. 

However, it all goes to shit later that evening. George is making bolognaise pasta sauce when his phone rings.

He answers with a cheering, ‘hey, you,’ as he sees it’s Matty on the other end.

‘G-George…’ Matty sniffs through the phone, and George’s stomach drops.

‘Matty? Matty, what’s the matter?’

‘She… she’s taken Annie.’

George’s eyes widen and he shakes his head like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

‘What do you mean, taken her?’

‘L-Liz… she’s taken Annie to her parents’ house, we’re losing the flat… she’s kicked me out, George… I-I, can I… I don’t have anywhere else to go…’


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A revelation is made when Matty shows up at George's door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still blown away by the reaction this story is getting, thank you all so much!
> 
> I'm actually going to see The 1975 in Spain next week so I hope to get another chapter out before I go, but if not, please enjoy the slight cliffhanger at the end of this chapter!
> 
> <3

**Matty**

Matty launches himself into George’s arms as soon as he opens the door, his guitar and bags forgotten in the doorway. He’s desperate to feel something other than utter panic at the thought of his daughter being taken away from him, and he hopes George will understand this. 

‘Matty,’ George muffles softly, his face buried in Matty’s neck as they both cling to each other. 

‘It’s all so fucked,’ Matty mumbles and presses his lips to George’s without even really thinking, he knows that there’s every change Lola could walk in on them at any second, but he really doesn’t care. To Matty’s despair, George pulls away quickly, a concerned look on his face as he shuts the front door.

‘Not now, look… come on,’ he takes Matty gently by the hand and leads him into the kitchen where the remnants of dinner are still visible. 

Matty sits down at the kitchen table, his fingers going to his temple, pressing down to the release the pressure of the headache that’s been building since he’d rang George in tears.

‘Where’s Lola?’ Matty asks hesitantly, noticing that George is pouring two liberally filled glasses of wine. 

‘Colouring in the living room, I’ll need to put her to bed soon though… so come on, what happened?’ He sits down next to Matty at the table, their knees brushing lightly, and Matty considers it crazy that even that small amount of contact with George makes his entire body fizzle with energy. 

Matty takes a long drink from his glass of wine to calm himself. ‘I missed the last two rent payments,’ he admits quietly, staring at his hands. ‘Liz found the arrears letters that I’d been hiding from her while I was around yours… and she confronted me when we got back.’

‘Fuck, Matty…’ George sighs, and Matty thinks he sounds a little exasperated with him which makes Matty’s stomach sink.

‘I’m sorry,’ Matty admits, his voice becoming thick with tears again. ‘Sh-she called me a failure, said I couldn’t be trusted to look after Annie…’ he trails off, tears spilling down his cheeks. George reaches out and takes Matty’s hand in his, and he’s pathetically grateful for this. 

‘We… we have to be out in two weeks… Liz has taken Annie to her parents, she threw this at me,’ Matty reaches into his pocket and pulls out the engagement ring which he places on the table in front of them.

‘You should have told her about the rent problems, Matty,’ George explains quietly, rubbing his thumb along Matty’s soothingly.

‘I know,’ Matty mumbles, ‘but that’s not all… she… I think she knows about us.’

‘What?’ George says quickly. ‘How?’

‘One of her colleagues at the hair salon saw us holding hands at the park this morning… she called me sick for doing that while I was around Annie…’

George’s face hardens at this. ‘It’s not sick,’ George says vehemently. ‘You’re so much better off without Liz, Matty… you know you are.’

‘But what about Annie?’ Matty’s voice cracks again and he just shakes his head, his shoulders sagging and his whole body slumping as in defeat. 

George stands up and wraps his arms around Matty from behind, his stubbly face pressed into Matty’s neck. Matty clings to George like he’s his anchor in a storm, like he’s the only thing that’s stopping Matty from falling apart completely. Matty’s body shakes with silent sobs and George only holds him tighter, whispering soothing words into his ear. In that moment George is the most important thing to him, but he doesn’t know how to quite articulate this to him. 

‘Thank you,’ is all Matty can manage, and George just nods.

‘Daddy?’ comes Lola’s small voice from the doorway, and Matty feels George let go of him and straighten up.

‘Lola, baby, is everything okay?’

‘What’s wrong with Matty?’ She asks, and she sounds so much more grown up than her five years.

‘He’s just had some bad news, and he’s a little bit sad at the moment,’ George explains gently going over to her as Matty rubs his watery eyes, trying to give Lola a reassuring smile, to ease her obvious worry.

‘Oh,’ Lola pauses and looks like she’s thinking hard about something before she goes over to one of the kitchen cupboards, she pulls something out and comes over to Matty, clutching a strawberry flavoured lolly in her hands.

‘Daddy gives me one of these if I’m sad, but I want you to have one,’ she explains matter-of-factly.

Matty’s eyes prick with tears again, because it strikes him how good a dad George is to have raised such a caring daughter, and they’re both showing him so much kindness that he doesn’t deserve.

‘That’s very kind, thank you, Lola,’ Matty says softly, picking up the lolly and unwrapping it, popping it in his mouth. ‘How did you know strawberry is my favourite flavour?’

Lola beams with pride. ‘It’s mine and daddy’s favourite too!’

George places a gentle hand on Lola’s shoulder. ‘I think it’s time for bed, Lola, I’ll be up in a minute, okay?’

‘Night night, Matty,’ Lola says, giving him a small wave.

‘Sweet dreams, Lola.’

Lola goes upstairs, leaving George and Matty alone together once again.

‘Are you having a proud dad moment?’ Matty asks softly, still sucking on the lolly.

‘You have no fucking clue.’

‘She takes after her dad,’ Matty says in earnest, removing the lolly to take another deep drink from his glass of wine. 

George flushes and Matty stands up, placing his hands on George’s broad shoulders as he looks up into George’s eyes.

‘Sometimes I think you’re my fucking guardian angel, George Daniel.’

George leans down and kisses him gently, a hand going up to gently caress Matty’s cheek.

‘Make yourself comfortable, okay?’ He says softly. ‘I’ll take your stuff upstairs, get Lola ready for bed, and I’ll be down in a bit.’

Matty nods and shrugs off his jacket as George leaves, downing the rest of the wine in his glass, idly wondering if George would judge him if he finished off his glass too.

**

Matty is perched awkwardly on the sofa when George comes back down a little while later, Matty hardly even registers that George is holding his guitar case, a smile on his face.

‘Why didn’t you tell me you played guitar?’ He asks at a slightly bewildered Matty.

‘I… I don’t know really… I don’t play much anymore really…’

‘Play me something?’

Matty rubs his eyes and just nods, taking the guitar case out of George’s hands because apparently, he’s incapable of saying no to George at all times, even when he’s really fucking sad.

George sits down next to him on the sofa, leaning back with a soft smile on his face.

Matty unzips the case and gently removes his guitar.

‘You’re not gonna play Wonderwall, are you?’ George teases, kicking Matty’s leg lightly with his socked foot.

Matty rolls his eyes as he tries to get used to the feel of the guitar beneath his fingers again.

‘I… um, I wrote this for my brother actually, when mum moved and took Louis with her, it’s called ‘is there somebody who can watch you…’

George is watching him intently as he starts to strum, the words coming out softly as he plays. Matty can feels the tears welling up once more as he sings, realising that the lyrics apply to Annie too.

_I know it’s me who’s supposed to love you,  
And when I’m home you know I’ve got you._

Matty’s voice and fingers are shaking, he pauses and puts the guitar down again.

‘Sorry… I-I can’t…’

George shuffles over to him on the sofa, pulling Matty’s thin frame against him.

‘No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to while you’re like this,’ George murmurs, rocking Matty a little as if he were a small child. ‘It’s all gonna be okay. I promise.’

‘You can’t promise that,’ Matty sniffs, his tears dripping onto George’s shirt.

‘No… I can’t,’ George says sadly. ‘But… I can do my best to help you, we’re gonna get you sorted, okay?’

**

Matty and George lay facing each other in George’s bed, it had taken a while but Matty is now calm in the ever-increasing familiarity of George’s bedroom, aided by George’s fingers ghosting over the tattoos on Matty’s arms. 

‘Do you even have any flaws, George?’ Matty enquires softly into the quiet room, voicing the thought that had been swirling around his hazy head for the last couple of minutes.

George smiles at him sadly. ‘Everyone has flaws Matty, I’m not perfect… my feet smell pretty bad, I’m forgetful sometimes, I’m either a slutty or an angry drunk, there’s no in-between…’

‘That’s superficial stuff though,’ Matty explains. ‘There’s no fundamental flaws there… you’re not a fuck up like me.’

George scowls at him properly this time, and Matty feels like a complete shit because he knows how bloody irritating and self-deprecating he’s being, but he can’t seem to stop. 

‘Shut up, Matty. You’re not a bloody fuck up, don’t start parroting all that shit that Liz says to you, I know you.’

‘Go on, then,’ he challenges George. ‘Convince me I’m not a fuck up.’ 

‘Oh come on, Matty, do we really need to do this?’ 

‘Yes,’ he replies bluntly, not really knowing why he’s feeling increasingly and unnecessarily antagonistic towards George in this moment. 

George rubs at his face in slight despair before sitting up in bed and looking at Matty squarely.

‘Okay, here goes… I think you’re such an amazing dad, Annie is so lucky to have a dad that cares about her as much as you do. You can be so funny and cheeky, you’re talented, and you’re beautiful. I know you don’t see any of these things in yourself but I do, and honestly your fucking smile makes me fall a bit in love with you every time I see it. I love how all your sleeves are always too long and cover your hands, I love how you always smell of strawberries and cigarettes… and I realise I haven’t really answered your question, but honestly I just think you’re scared, angry, and vulnerable, but you are _not_ a fuck up.’ 

George says all of this without stopping for breath, and it’s his turn to look anxious, like he’s just bared his soul for all to see, which Matty thinks he has in a way. Matty is speechless so he just takes George’s hands in his, one particular part of George’s speech reverberating in his mind, ‘ _your smile makes me fall a bit in love with you_.'

‘I think I'm falling in love with you a little bit too,’ Matty admits softly, linking his fingers with George, all anger and sadness momentarily lifted at this confession.

George sniffs, and Matty is honestly taken aback to see that George is crying for the first time since they’ve met. Matty awkwardly clambers over to George’s side of the bed, climbing into his lap and wrapping his arms around him, their bare chests pressed tightly together so that Matty can feel the pounding of George’s heart. 

‘It scares me how much I want to protect you and the girls,’ George chokes out, and Matty can’t quite believe the extent to which their roles have reversed in the last couple of minutes. 

They cling to each other tightly, and they stay that way for longer than either of them dares to acknowledge. 

**

Matty doesn’t leave the house for a week after this. He has no need to. He’d messaged Liz to ask if he needed to pick Annie up from school, crossing every appendage that she would say yes, just so he could see Annie for a little while at least. However, all Liz had texted back was an incredibly blunt ‘No’, meaning her mum would probably be doing the school pick up, making Matty surplus to requirement in that regard. He’d even been combing Liz’s social media to see if she’d posted any new pictures of Annie, but this was fruitless. George had even suggested he come with him to pick Lola up so he could see Annie, but the last thing Matty wanted was to confront Liz’s mum at the school gates even if it meant seeing Annie albeit briefly.

Matty’s sadness had even abated slightly, knowing at least that Annie was in safe hands with Liz, and having settled into some semblance of routine living with George and Lola for the last week. He would get up when George and Lola left the house at 7:30am, he’d make breakfast and coffee and sit outside on the patio (if it’s not raining), despite the November chill, because he’d missed having a garden in the last five years where he’d been confined to a third floor flat with no balcony or access to his own outside space. He would smoke, write lyrics, look for jobs, and do household chores until George came home around 2:30 so he could change out of his Sainsbury’s uniform for a quick turnaround to pick Lola up for 3pm.

However, it changes on Friday, Matty’s fifth day of living with the Daniels. It’s uncharacteristically sunny for November in Manchester and Matty is sitting outside with his guitar, a cigarette hanging from his lips. He’d been thinking about George and wondering why, in the last few days, he and George hadn’t kissed our touched at all. They still slept in the same bed, and would usually wake up spooning, but that was as far as it went, Matty thought that maybe George was scared of triggering something in Matty, or maybe he didn’t want Lola to catch them, which Matty fully understood.

He’s broken out of his daydream when George pulls the cigarette from Matty’s lips and grins at Matty’s slightly petulant pout.

‘Hey, that’s mine!’

‘I bought them, so they’re technically mine,’ George says smugly, blowing smoke in Matty’s pouting face.

Matty rolls his eyes because he can’t argue at that.

‘Umm… George, why is there a suspicious white stain on your trousers?’

George snorts and shakes his head. ‘Ross threw a pot of expired yogurt at me and it exploded everywhere, yes, I’m well aware it looks like jizz.’

Matty laughs but then frowns. ‘Wait, why aren’t you going to get Lola? It’s nearly 3!’

George smiles knowingly at him. ‘Because, Matty, we are going out tonight. Mum’s picking Lola up to take her back to hers, and Ross and Adam will be here at 7.’

‘Wait, what? Where are we going?’

‘Well, I was chatting with the boys at work today, and Adam suggested we do something to cheer you up…’

Matty is momentarily touched by how lovely Adam and Ross are, George has good taste in friends.

‘Where are we going?’ Matty repeats, becoming suspicious as George is avoiding his question.

‘Kiki,’ George says cheekily, taking a drag from the almost burnt out cigarette between his fingers.

‘Wait… that’s a gay bar?’

‘Bingo… Matty, my love, we’re taking you to a gay bar!’


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go clubbing, and then things get sexy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I'm so blown away by all the lovely comments <333
> 
> This is the longest chapter to date, and I'm flying out to see the real life George, Matty, Adam and Ross tomorrow so I really wanted to get this out before I left!
> 
> Enjoy, lovely people!

**George**  
George thinks that Adam’s plan to take Matty out for the night is honestly the best thing he could have come up with, and he’s surprised he didn’t think of it first, however, it _was_ his idea to go to Kiki, George hasn’t been there since Adam’s birthday last year, and he’s beyond excited for a night out. 

Matty hasn’t exactly been moping this last week, but also hasn’t left the house either, which is also unhealthy, and George is determined not to let Matty spiral into something worse. Having Matty living under his roof has been strange, but not in a bad way, more so in a ‘this is new and scary, and I don’t want to get used to this in case he suddenly goes back to Liz’ kind of way. However, George has been reluctant to initiate anything between them recently because he’s honestly petrified of screwing with Matty’s new-found peace and routine, and also because he really doesn’t want to have _that_ conversation with Lola yet. Lola has never questioned why all her friends have mummies and she doesn’t, and George has no idea how she’d take it if she saw him kissing Matty, would she start thinking Matty was her new mum? Mind you, Matty hasn’t initiated anything which makes George wonder what’s actually going through his mind too.

George takes a sip of beer and checks his phone. Adam just texted him to let him know that he and Ross were on their way and they were bringing beer, which George is grateful for because Matty has successfully drunk his way through three cans since he received the news that they were going out. Matty is now showering, or at least that’s what George thinks he’s doing, he’s been upstairs now for almost an hour, and he contemplates going upstairs to make sure that Matty hasn’t drowned in there or something when Matty appears in the doorway. George instantly feels his resolve to not initiate anything between him and Matty dissolve instantly, because Matty looks _incredible_.

He’s wearing the tightest black jeans with ripped knees, and a red baggy shirt that would look ridiculous on George, but somehow works on Matty, his chest tattoo peeking out from where he hasn’t buttoned it up all the way. His hair is messy, curls falling to his shoulders, and the thing that makes all the blood rush to George’s cock is the fact that Matty is wearing make-up, a dash of blue eyeshadow ghosts his eyelids, twinned with eyeliner making his eyes look dark and smoky. He’s the perfect blend of masculine and feminine and if that isn’t an analogy for his own bisexuality then George doesn’t know what is. 

‘You’re staring…’ Matty states, his hands going to his slender hips. ‘Do I look daft?’

‘No… no, quite the opposite,’ George stammers out. ‘You look… uh, you look really fucking hot actually.’

Matty shuffles towards George a little uncertainly, there’s a flush to his cheeks, and all George wants to do is shove Matty over the kitchen table and fuck him silly.

‘I haven’t worn make-up since I was about nineteen,’ Matty giggles. ‘I figured if we’re going to a gay bar, what better place to embrace this side of me… I’ve never been to a gay bar before.’

George swallows slowly, still just taking Matty in. This is such a far cry from the Matty of the last week that’s lived in trackies and George’s shirts that George is still a little stunned… and aroused.

‘You look amazing,’ George mumbles, his fingers itching to touch.

Matty presses his body against George’s, pressing him into the edge of the table, and George thinks that it’s probably the alcohol making him this forward, and he likes it. The tension feels thick between them and George leans forward but he’s not quick enough because Matty leans in first and takes George’s bottom lip between his teeth and tugging a little making George groan and press his hips forward into Matty’s. Matty pulls away, looking into George’s eyes, and George has never wanted anyone more than he wants Matty in that moment.

‘If Adam and Ross weren’t gonna be here any minute, I’d have you bent over that table so fast,’ George growls as Matty slides his fingers below the waist of George’s jeans teasingly.

‘We are _obviously_ interrupting something,’ Ross sniggers from the kitchen doorway, two six packs of beer under one arm and a smirk on his face.

Matty giggles and George goes red this time, fully aware that his cock is full hard and probably very obvious in his jeans.

Adam comes in behind Ross and rolls his eyes at George and Matty. 

‘We can go home, if you two are busy?’

‘No, no, it’s good, we were just… um, yeah…’ George trails off making Ross and Adam laugh.

‘It’s cool, mate… nice blouse, Matty,’ Ross grins, putting the beers down before grabbing one for himself, Adam follows suit.

‘Thanks,’ Matty giggles, grabbing two and passing one over to George who takes it gratefully. 

George realises somewhat belatedly that both Adam and Ross are dressed up pretty fancy, both in button downs and jackets, putting his jeans and plain white t-shirt to shame slightly, he pouts at his two best friends.

‘You guys didn’t tell me we were dressing fancy!’

‘Mate, you can’t go to a gay club in a t-shirt and jeans,’ Adam argues, and George notices that Matty is watching their exchange with a smirk, hiding slightly behind his can of beer.

‘Freddie Mercury used to do it,’ George argues back.

‘Yeah, he also used to wear crowns and fur capes, but I’m not advising you do that either, we don't do things just because Freddie Mercury used to do them!’

Matty giggles again, opening his fifth can of beer.

‘I like the white t-shirt… it’s very young Marlon Brando in Streetcar,’ Matty interjects smirking, looking over at George, and George thinks he’s getting a gage now on what kind of drunk Matty is.

‘Of course you do,’ Adam says rolling his eyes, sipping his beer.

George decides that if Matty likes his outfit then he’s not going to change, so he slides his arm around Matty’s shoulders and grins at Adam and Ross. ‘Come on, lads, time to help Matty lose his gay club virginity!’

Both Ross and Adam’s jaws fall open, and Ross gestures to Matty, his arm waving vaguely at him like he’s trying to take in what he’s seeing.

‘Okay, no offence, mate, but I refuse to believe you’ve never been to a gay club when you know how to dress like that… like, Adam isn’t even remotely gay, and he’s been several times!’

Matty snorts into George’s shoulder, and George really hopes they let Matty into Kiki at this rate!

‘I dunno,’ Matty laughs. ‘I used to be in bands and stuff when I was younger… this was my stage look… I actually have some leather pants, but I had no idea I’d be going to a gay club when I packed all my stuff up!’

George’s eyes widen a little at the idea of Matty in that outfit but with leather pants instead of the ripped jeans, his cock twitching a little. However, this is quickly forgotten as he notices that Adam is giving him a knowing look and _damn_ him for knowing what he’s thinking at all times, he’s a sneaky one is Adam. 

‘Well then, cheers to gay club virginity!’ Ross calls out, raising his beer can.

‘Cheers!’ 

**

The queue to get into Kiki isn’t that long, but they have to wait for long enough that Matty is shivering like crazy by the time they get in because the stupid fucker is too stubborn to wear a coat or even borrow George’s because it would ruin his outfit!

‘Go find a booth, guys, I’ll grab the first round!’ Ross shouts over the loud music and George shuffles forward past the dancing bodies, his hands on Matty’s as Matty follows Adam through the club like some sort of weird slightly tipsy conga line.

Adam dives into a booth and Matty and George follow, George’s fingers are still itching to touch Matty, this feeling having not left him since the minute he saw Matty all dressed up, he knows Matty wants him too, but he wonders if Matty knows just _how much_ George is desperate to touch.

‘It’s pretty cool in here!’ Matty shouts over the music, his hand sliding onto George’s knee under the table, deft fingers squeezing lightly and making George’s heat speed up just a little.

Adam laughs, shrugging his jacket off. ‘You’ll never want to go to any other kind of club from now on! Like Ross said, I’m straight and I fucking love it here, the music is so good though I don’t think I’d come here without my bi boys!’

‘Bi boys!’ Matty cackles, clapping his hands together with glee.

Ross appears with a whole tray of shots and a smirk on his face as he places them down on the table in front of them.

‘I thought I’d treat our Matty here,’ he winks at Matty and Matty smirks back a little, and okay, Matty is obviously a flirty drunk, and George tries to ignore the present sting of jealousy he feels at the idea of Matty’s flirting attention being directed anywhere other than at him.

‘What is it?’ Adam enquires giving Ross a look, and George is reminded of Adam’s 25th birthday when Ross bought them enough absinthe to leave them all bed ridden for two days after.

‘It’s a surprise,’ Ross giggles, placing a random shot in front of each of them. 

‘Bottoms up, boys!’

**

A few rounds of shots later and George can feel Matty getting antsy next to him, like he wants to get up and move, and when Born To Die by Lana Del Rey Matty drapes himself over George’s shoulder and murmurs in George’s ear that he wants to dance with him, and George is weak. He doesn’t usually dance as a rule, but at this point he’d do anything for Matty, to have Matty pliant and pressed against him on the dance floor.

George completely forgets about Ross and Adam who have managed to find Ross’s old flatmate John, the three of them laughing about something that George hadn’t been paying attention to, too fixated on Matty, and the way Matty’s dark eyes are filled with _something_ that makes George’s knees weak. 

Matty grabs George’s hand and pulls him up, dragging him towards the now extremely busy dancefloor, the air is thick, and George can already feel his shirt sticking to his skin as he makes his way towards the mass of dancing bodies.

The beat of the song is slow and sultry and Matty slides his arms around George’s shoulders, a slight sheen of sweat gracing Matty’s collarbone. George wants to lick it.

‘I’ve wanted to do this since we got here,’ Matty mumbles, his lips pressed close to George’s ear. ‘Thinking about what you said to me in the kitchen.’

The stirring in George’s lower stomach is immediate and he pushes his body even tighter against Matty’s so there’s no space between them now.

‘What about how I want to fuck you over the kitchen table?’

George feels Matty’s groan and nod against his chest and he spins Matty around so Matty’s back is pressed against his chest, George’s hands resting low on Matty’s hips as they move together. Matty tips his head back against George’s shoulder, his eyes closed as George presses his lips to Matty’s ear, the alcohol running through George’s body making him far braver than he would normally be in this situation. 

‘You have no fucking idea how good you look, do you?’ George says softly, his tongue tracing the cuff of Matty’s ear, running over the small silver earing there before moving lower, licking at the side of Matty’s neck and biting down softly on Matty’s pulse point. George’s heart is thudding with excitement, his cock pressed up against the curve of Matty’s arse.

Matty pulls away a little to turn around in George’s arms so he can press his lips to George’s in one of the messiest, dirtiest kisses that George has ever experienced. His tongue is sliding over Matty’s, tasting the tequila and beer from earlier, their teeth knocking in their eagerness to get even closer to each other. Matty’s fingers go to George’s hair, tugging there and making him moan, almost completely forgetting that he’s in public, even though no one is paying them any attention. 

George’s cock is fully hard and so is Matty’s as they kiss, George runs his fingers up under Matty’s shirt, his fingers dragging over the damp skin there. Matty shudders and breaks away from the kiss, his lips wet, his dark eyes meeting George’s in the darkened room.

‘I want you to fuck me…’ Matty says thickly into George’s ear as the song comes to an end, transitioning into something George doesn’t recognise. 

‘Take me home.’ 

This is all it takes to have George grabbing Matty's hand and pulling him through the throng of bodies, not even thinking about Adam and Ross, he's completely consumed by his need for Matty in this moment, and that utterly terrifies him.

**

Matty is all over him in the cab, and George is making a point of ignoring the glances the cab driver is giving him in the rear-view mirror as George is certain that he has full view of Matty’s hands which are rubbing at George’s cock through his jeans. It honestly takes every ounce of restraint in George to stop him from completely giving in to Matty and getting his cock out right there and then. The short ten-minute drive seems to take all of thirty seconds and before George knows it, he’s throwing a tenner at the disgruntled driver and dragging Matty out of the cab towards the front door.

He’s fumbling in his jeans pocket for his keys when he feels Matty shove him up against the front door, kissing him with a desperation that George doesn’t think he’s ever experienced before, Matty is panting into the kiss and George has to pull away as his fingers reach the keys.

‘One moment, yeah?’ George breathes, jingling the keys in front of a wanton Matty who’s licking his lips and brushing his messy hair from his eyes, he looks fucking delicious. 

‘Hurry up!’ Matty whines, pressed up against George as he finally gets the keys in the lock, and they fall through the front door, crashing to the carpeted hallway floor in a fit of giggles, the sexual tension momentarily broken as they lay next to each other giggling on the floor. George delights in not having to worry about waking up Lola. They could fuck right here if they really wanted to.

‘Clumsy tree,’ Matty snorts, climbing on top of George from where he’s laying flat on his back, the front door still wide open.

‘Want me to fuck you right here? Door open and everything?’ George enquires casually, his fingers sliding into the holes in Matty’s jeans. 

Matty groans and covers his face, grinding down ever so slightly on George’s swollen cock.

‘I’ve… I’ve actually never had sex with a guy before,’ Matty groans, his own deft fingers playing with the hem of George’s shirt. ‘But… I can’t stop thinking about it…’

George presses his fingers into Matty’s bony hips and flips them over so Matty is the one on his back and George stands up, closing the front door, Matty doesn’t move, waiting to see what George does next.

‘We could start slow,’ George smirks, extending a hand out to Matty to help him up off the floor.

‘You don’t want to fuck me?’ Matty asks, his bottom lip jutting out in protest.

‘Matty, I want to fuck you more than anything… but I… I want us to both be sober when we do it…’

Matty swallows and nods, pressing his lips against George’s once more, tugging at the hem of George’s shirt until George gets the message, momentarily breaking the kiss so he can take his shirt off.

‘You’re so fucking hot, George, you don’t even know,’ Matty groans as George slides his hands down under Matty’s arse, lifting him and allowing Matty to wrap his legs around George’s waist so he can carry Matty up the stairs, all the while Matty sucking on his neck and intertwining his fingers in George’s hair.

Once they reach the bedroom George lays Matty down on the bed, smirking down at him, his neck throbbing pleasantly from where Matty’s had his lips attached there. 

‘I want you to take all your clothes off, and then get on your hands and knees,’ George explains, enjoying the feeling of power, and knowing that he probably wouldn’t have the courage to be this commanding if he were sober.

‘Yes, daddy,’ Matty smirks, and George suspects he says it just to get a reaction out of George, which totally works because George’s cock jumps in his trousers and he has to undo the button and zipper to release some pressure.

‘You dirty little shit,’ George laughs, climbing onto the bed by Matty’s feet as Matty shimmies ungracefully out of his skinny jeans and boxers, the shirt already laying forgotten on the bedroom floor.

‘Mmmm,’ George groans appreciatively as Matty gets onto his hands and knees, he leans forward and bites down lightly on Matty’s arse, his stomach flipping as Matty lets out a raspy moan, his cock hanging hard and heavy between his legs.

‘What are you going to do to me?’ Matty murmurs, and George doesn’t respond with words, he simply grabs hold of Matty’s arse, spreading his cheeks a little and rubbing a dry finger over Matty’s hole. This makes Matty’s whole body jerk forward with surprise.

‘W-what?’ Matty gasps out, but George still doesn’t say anything, he simply leans down and runs the flat of his tongue over Matty’s hole slowly, dragging slowly and feeling Matty’s whole body shake a little with a sensation that George is sure Matty would have never felt before.

‘Oh fuck,’ Matty moans, his shoulder muscles tensing from where he’s holding his whole body up on his forearms.

George slides a hand into his own jeans, releasing his cock and moaning at the cool air hitting overheated skin, George fucking loves doing this, and it’s been such a long time, that he can’t believe he ever forgot how much he enjoys it. He continues to run his tongue over Matty’s hole, occasionally dipping his tongue in, making Matty whine and push his hips forward. Eventually Matty gives up on holding himself up, simply pressing his face into the pillow, his back arched so his arse is spread in the air. He goes to grab hold of his own cock, but George swats his hand away, grinning even though Matty can’t see his face.

‘No touching.’

George is stroking himself sloppily as Matty becomes more and more desperate.

‘Please!’ Matty whines as George replaces his tongue with his finger, sliding his finger in ever so slightly. He can feel Matty’s thighs shaking now, and he can feel his own release building in his stomach.

‘Feels so fucking good,’ Matty gasps, his fingers gripping the sheets so tightly Matty’s knuckles are going white.

‘Yeah,’ George moans, speeding his hand up, sweat beading on his forehead.

‘I need to cum,’ Matty whimpers and this is George’s cue, he pulls Matty’s hips towards him and drags him down onto the bed, George aligning his hips so his cock slides against the curve of Matty’s arse. He takes Matty’s pulsing cock in his hand and gives him two quick strokes before Matty’s head slams back against George’s shoulder and he cums all over George’s fist with a cry, hips stuttering. George thrusts his cock against Matty’s arse and cums quickly, spilling between them, his whole body shuddering with the release.

‘T-that was…’ Matty trails off. ‘I’ve never…’

‘I know,’ George mumbles into Matty’s sweaty hair, breathing him in deeply and shutting his increasingly tired eyes.

He slowly pulls away from Matty after a few minutes so he can grab some tissues, wiping his hands, stomach and Matty’s back, his body feels heavy and light at the same time, and his heart clenches with something he can’t describe as he sees Matty almost asleep, his hair is a mess, and his skin is still damp with sweat but he looks angelic.

He lays back down behind Matty, wrapping his arm around him and burying his face into his damp shoulder, closing his eyes.

‘I love you,’ George mumbles into the skin there, but Matty is already fast asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matty gets an unexpected visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your ongoing support!
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter is so late, The 1975 were so fucking good when I saw them last weekend, however I missed my flight home and this week has been so fucking stressful, but I'm glad to be back into the swing of writing! :)
> 
> Your comments are the light of my life, and I love you all so much!

**Matty**  


Matty wakes the following morning to an empty bed, and the smell of bacon filling his nostrils. These two things momentarily distract him from the fact that his cock is painfully hard as images from the previous night fill his head. The feel of George’s tongue in his fucking _arse_ is something that Matty doesn’t think he’ll be forgetting any time soon.

Without putting any clothes on, because fuck it, Lola’s not home, Matty heads downstairs quietly towards the smell of bacon, wanting to surprise George. As he enters the kitchen, Matty has to cover his mouth to suppress the surprised giggle that threatens to thwart his ninja capabilities, because George is also naked, wearing nothing but an apron, and whistling cheerfully while he cooks.

‘That’s a truly wonderful view,’ Matty smirks, his eyes trained on George’s butt. George jumps and spins around so quickly that Matty can’t help but giggle this time, because George honestly looks like he’s seen a fucking ghost!

‘Fuck, Matty! You scared me, fuck!’ George gasps, food tongs in the air, his **KISS THE CHEF** apron barely covering anything.

Matty saunters over to George, grinning cheekily at him, he’s never felt this giddy with someone before, and the memory of last night is so fresh that Matty’s confidence is through the roof for a change. George appears to have calmed down after his fright, and Matty can feel his eyes raking up and down his body which makes Matty smirk.

‘I quite like the view from here too,’ George agrees, pulling Matty towards him as soon as he can reach him. Their lips clash together, and it should be gross as Matty knows neither of them brushed their teeth last night, but that thought is soon pushed out of his mind by the feel of George’s already hard cock pressed against him through the fabric of the apron. George pushes Matty up against the kitchen counter, all thoughts of bacon forgotten as Matty grips George’s arse, nails digging in as their breathing becomes laboured.

‘Last night was really fucking hot,’ Matty admits breathlessly against George’s lips, to which George nods before kissing his way down Matty’s neck, making him groan. 

‘I never thought I’d like the feeling of a tongue in my arse until now, but now I think I might die if I don’t get to feel it again,’ Matty starts to gabble as George grinds his hips slowly against Matty, reminiscent of the dancefloor the night before.

‘I mean I’ve definitely fingered myself thinking about you fucking me before,’ Matty continues and this makes George pause and pull away for a second, his eyes now dark with lust.

‘I’d love to watch you finger yourself,’ George growls, and Matty shivers at this, closing his eyes and tipping his head back a little as George starts to suck against Matty’s pulse.

‘C-can I… can I suck you off?’ Matty moans, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows thickly, he’s so desperate to get his mouth on George in any way he can. George pulls away from Matty’s neck and grins.

‘You literally never have to ask permission to do that,’ George laughs, rotating them so that George is the one with his back against the kitchen counter, hastily undoing the apron and tossing it aside.

Matty tentatively sinks to his knees on the cool wooden floor, George’s cock is hard and fucking _massive_ , like, way bigger than Matty’s, and Matty knows he isn’t small by any means!

‘You’re so big,’ Matty groans, his cheeks going flushed because he’s well aware he sounds like a really cheesy porn star right now, but his words have a real effect on George because he moans and pushes his hips forward a little towards Matty’s mouth.

Matty leans in and licks at the head slightly, not sure what to expect from this entirely new experience, and he’s pleased to find that he likes it, his mouth watering at what’s to come, pun entirely intended. He shuts his eyes and starts to suck gently at first, Matty’s cock aching already at the hotness and spontaneity of everything that he’s never experienced before, not even when he and Liz were first dating.

George’s hands fist in Matty’s messy curls, gentle yet still a little forceful which does things to Matty’s cock, making him so desperate to please George that he might just fucking die from the feeling.

Matty’s just starting to get really into it, trying to hollow out his cheeks like he’s seen in porn before when he jumps out of his fucking skin at the sound of an alarm so piercing he falls back on his arse on the cold wooden floor, looking up at George who’s wearing an identical look of panic on his face.

‘The fucking bacon!’ George exclaims, rushing over to where the burning bacon is producing an alarming amount of smoke, they’d both been so preoccupied that they’d failed not notice the smell of burning bacon for the last five minutes.

Matty runs to the backdoor and yanks it open, doing the same with the windows while George shoves the smoking pan under a stream of cold water in an effort to stop the blaring alarm.

The alarm finally stops and Matty leans against the sink where George is standing there, pouting at the burnt frying pan and now incredibly soggy bacon.

‘I’ve literally never seen you look so sad,’ Matty states with abject seriousness, wafting some remaining smoke away from his face.

‘This is the saddest I’ve ever been,’ George replies with a completely deadpan expression.

Their eyes meet, and Matty snorts with laughter as he wonders what people would think if they came in to see two naked men gathered around a burnt frying pan, pouting over bacon. George joins in laughing and soon they’re clutching each other and gasping for air, the frying pan laying forgotten in the sink, and all thoughts of morning blowjobs eradicated.

** 

A few days pass, and Matty’s mood is honestly stable for the most part. He’s prone to getting down if he thinks about Annie for too long, although he’s still keeping tabs on Liz’s social media, and Liz posted a picture of Annie on her Instagram on Monday, the two of them curled up on the sofa at Liz’s parents house, surrounded by boxes of tissues with the caption of ‘two sick girls xx’ underneath, and simply seeing Annie’s face made Matty cry for about half an hour. He hadn’t liked the photo, knowing that wouldn’t be entirely appropriate, but he had texted Liz saying, ‘I hope you both feel better soon, let Annie know I love her lots.’ Liz had not replied. 

Matty thanks whatever deity that’s watching over them every day for George. He’s a fucking angel incarnate, ever supportive and wonderful, their affection is still contained to the moments where they’re alone, but he’s okay with that because what fills Matty with joy the most is that Lola has adapted so well to Matty living there that she’s even started going to Matty, asking him to play dolls with her, or colour with her, and Matty would never want to jeopardise this new tentative equilibrium. However, this has a tendency to bring on a kind of heartache that Matty hasn’t experienced before, because he can see so clearly in his mind that this could easily be a life that he could be content with, and Annie would fit in so well, they could be a happy, if slightly dysfunctional family. But Matty is also not delusional enough to believe that this could ever be reality, no matter how hard he wishes for it. 

It’s a wet Thursday morning and Matty is freshly showered and making himself a cup of coffee when there’s a knock on the door. George had mentioned that Matty needed to be home today because something important was arriving (not that Matty went out really and George knew this), and also that Lola was staying behind after school to start rehearsals for the Christmas Nativity. Matty had been half asleep for most of this one-sided conversation, and hadn’t really questioned anything, so he’s intrigued as he opens the front door.

What he’s absolutely not expecting to see is his mum on the doorstep, a broken umbrella clutched in her hand, and a kind expression on her face.

‘Mum? What...?’ Matty starts, but before he can finish his sentence, he’s crying, his body shaking with sobs. He feels his mum wrap her arms around him, her coat is wet, and it makes Matty shiver, but he doesn’t care in this moment because his mum is _here_.

‘Shhh, it’s okay, sweetheart,’ she hushes as she rocks him slowly from side to side, like Matty is a child all over again.

Matty takes a deep breath and pulls away, wiping his cheeks and eyes with his fists, blinking as if he’s not entirely sure that his mum is really there.

‘How did you? I mean… why are you here?’

Denise gives Matty a kind smile.

‘How about I explain everything over a cuppa, hmm?’

Matty nods and shuts the front door, shock and confusion overwhelming him as he leads his mum into the kitchen, putting the kettle on and taking a long sip of his previously forgotten coffee.

‘This place is beautiful,’ Denise comments as she looks around the airy kitchen, Matty nods, wishing he could take some pride in the tasteful décor of George’s house.

Matty makes his mum’s tea on autopilot and slumps down at the kitchen table next to her.

‘How did you know where I was?’ Is Matty’s first question, studying his mum’s face as if seeing her for the first time.

‘George told me,’ Denise replies matter-of-factly, which _definitely_ raises more questions than it answers, Matty thinks. His confusion must show on his face because Denise continues.

‘George found me through your Facebook, he messaged me and told me what happened about Liz and Annie, about your job, he said you weren’t coping too well, he needed my advice.’

Matty’s eyes widen at this, his face turning stony because his initial reaction is fury because how fucking dare George interfere in his goddamn life.

‘Before you get angry, Matty, you need to know that George wasn’t completely onboard with me coming because he knew you’d react like this, but I had to come, my love, you understand that don’t you?’

Matty nods and looks at his lap, not saying anything, the idea of George worrying about him to the extent that he’d seek help himself sitting heavy on his chest.

‘He’s a seems like a really lovely guy… George,’ Denise says softly and Matty nods again to meet his mum’s eyes.

‘I don’t know what I’d have done without him these last few months,’ Matty admits, his heart thudding faster because he feels he knows what direction this conversation is going in now.

‘Are you two…?’

Matty nods a third time, and he can’t help the small smile that ghosts his lips, because he still can’t quite believe how luck he is to have George in his life.

Denise beams at him and Matty’s heart swells in his chest.

‘I’m so happy, baby… you know I never warmed to Liz.’

‘I know… but she has Annie,’ Matty sighs, running his fingers through his damp hair. ‘I haven’t seen her in nearly two weeks… I miss her so much, mum. Liz won’t even reply to my texts…’

It’s Denise’s turn to nod this time, sipping her tea.

‘It’ll get sorted, sweetheart, don’t worry… she can’t keep you from Annie indefinitely… just give it a little more time… though I do just wish you’d told me about the problems you were having, Matthew! You know I’d have helped you out with rent, don’t you?’

‘It’s fucking embarrassing,’ Matty mumbles into his mug.

Denise tuts at this and shakes her head.

‘Asking for help is not embarrassing, it’s smart,’ Denise scalds. 

‘I know… I’m sorry it’s all so fucked.’

Denise reaches over and takes Matty’s hands in hers.

‘It’ll get sorted,’ she repeats, her eyes not leaving his. ‘Now, come on, I’m dying to hear all about you and George!’

**

They chat and catch up until George gets home from work. Matty is feeling almost normal for the first time in what feels like weeks, he feels like the biggest weight has been lifted from his shoulders knowing his mum is on his side, and he feels genuinely hopeful that everything will work out okay eventually.

George’s keys jangle in the front door and Matty sits up straight, aware that this is probably quite an important moment.

‘Matty,’ George calls out.

‘Kitchen!’

George appears in the doorway still donned in his Sainsbury’s uniform, looking more nervous than Matty has ever seen him, and Matty feels such an overwhelming surge of love for the man that it makes him momentarily breathless.

‘It’s so nice to finally meet you, George,’ Denise smiles, getting up to give him a hug, obviously keen to ease his nerves.

‘And you, Denise, thank you for coming such a long way!’

Matty watches this exchange from the kitchen table, smiling.

‘Anything for my Matthew,’ Denise smiles over at him.

‘Do you have somewhere to stay? We have a spare room here obviously if you need to stay here!’ George offers, and Matty’s stomach twists with pleasure at the way the word ‘we’ slipped so easily from George’s lips.

‘I’m staying with an old friend, don’t you worry about me,’ Denise reassures, patting George on the arm. ‘Speaking of, I should probably get going! Things to do, people to see!’ She winks at Matty.

Matty gets up and pulls his mum into a tight hug, burying his face in her shoulder.

‘Thank you,’ he muffles into her jumper, squeezing tightly.

‘I love you, baby.’

‘I love you too, mum.’

Denise kisses his cheek before patting it a very mumsy fashion, George escorts Denise to the front door, and Matty follows, feeling a burst of warmth as Denise kisses and pats George’s cheek also. She gives him one more final wave before she leaves, and he waves back, feeling so stupid for ever thinking that his mum would be anything but supportive and kind about all the things that have happened.

George shuts the door and turns to Matty, an unreadable expression on his face.

‘I’m not mad,’ Matty says quickly, and George’s expression immediately softens into a relieved smile, he steps forward and goes to kiss Matty but Matty stops him because he hasn’t finished yet.

‘I was mad at first… but honestly, George… you’re the first person that’s ever given a shit about me enough to do anything like this… you’re so fucking kind, and selfless, and I love you so fucking much, you have no idea…’ Matty blurts out because it’s the fucking truth, and even though the tears threaten to spill over again, Matty doesn’t care because the man in front of him is looking at him with such tenderness that it makes Matty ache.

‘I love you too, you fucking idiot,’ George sniffs, pulling Matty into him tightly.

‘You’re a fucking idiot,’ Matty retaliates weakly into George’s chest.

‘Your fucking idiot,’ George replies simply, kissing Matty’s forehead.

Matty grins and nods, kissing George deeply. The kiss escalates and they’re soon panting against each other’s lips, taking advantage of the empty house, their eyes glassy with lust and arousal.

Matty pulls away momentarily from the kiss and presses his damp lips to George’s ear, whispering five words that make George shudder.

‘Take me to bed, George.’


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get really sexy this time.  
> Matty gets an unexpected phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but seriously, thank you so much everyone! <3
> 
> This is the first proper sex scene I've ever written, so I hope it's okay.
> 
> All your comments are absolute joy.

**Matty**

_Take me to bed, George._

George is staring at Matty, a mixture of arousal and uncertainty gracing his face. He swallows.

‘Are you completely sure?’

Matty just nods, his bottom lip pressed gently between his teeth, his fingers are itching to touch George all over, but he knows that George needs reassuring that Matty wants this… which he does more than he can articulate.

‘Seriously, Matty… I need to know you’re certain about this… I’ve never taken anyone’s virginity before.’

‘I’m hardly a virgin, George,’ comes Matty’s slightly cocky response, rolling his eyes.

‘You know what I mean.’

Matty fixes George with a serious look then, taking George’s hands in his own and squeezing them tightly.

‘You’ve done more for me than anyone ever has, and this is how I want to let you know how much you mean to me,’ Matty says softly.

‘Okay,’ George says simply, pulling Matty into him in one swift motion, their lips crashing together with just as much passion as before. Matty loses himself completely in the moment, because he’s never felt anything like this before, like he’ll die if he can’t have the other person in that very moment. He pours everything he has of himself into the kiss, willing George to feel it, and hoping that George feels this love as intensely as he does. He weaves his fingers into George’s perpetually messy bedhead and tugs a little, remembering how much George had liked that the first time he’d sucked Matty off.

George groans and pulls away from the kiss, his dark eyes locked onto Matty’s.

‘Get your fucking arse upstairs right now,’ George orders and Matty doesn’t need telling twice. He runs up the stairs, George hot on his tail, and Matty fleetingly thinks how hot it would be for George to fuck him right here on the stairs but decides that can wait for another day.

Matty already has his jeans undone and half-way down his legs by the time he reaches the bedroom, his cock is straining at his boxers as he climbs onto the bed, George behind him, and already shirtless.

Matty deftly removes his shirt and scoots backwards so George can crawl towards him.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ George almost purrs as he covers Matty’s body with his, dipping his head down to lick over the ink adorning Matty’s chest.

Matty groans and shuffles his hips to inch his jeans off, George tugs at them, and removes them swiftly which impresses Matty because he always gets his feet stuck if he tries to take his jeans off in any kind of hurry.

‘Oh my god, I can’t wait to fuck you,’ George murmurs, gently running his fingers over Matty’s chest, dipping into his belly button before tracing along the waistband of his boxers, his cock pushing up against the elastic. Matty pushes his hips up, his eyes meeting George’s, and Matty thinks he’s way too sappy for his own good because he swears he can feel sparks between, and surely that’s just an overused cheesy cliché in bad romance novels, but apparently not.

‘You’re being very quiet,’ George says softly, pressing a kiss to Matty’s hip bone.

‘Sorry,’ Matty huffs out a laugh, ‘I think if I started talking, I probably wouldn’t stop, and I’m sure I’d embarrass myself…’

George smiles softly and kisses the other hip bone.

‘You don’t have to be embarrassed around me,’ he laughs, sitting up a little so he can undo his own trousers, hissing a little at the release of pressure against his cock.  


Matty just grins and drags George down on top of him once more so they can kiss, warm chests pressed against each other. Matty can feel the steady thump of George’s heartbeat, and he wonders if George can feel how fast his own is beating, mostly from excitement, but also nerves because George’s cock is enormous…

They kiss until they’re both breathless and panting, they break apart and George’s fingers slowly slide under the waistband of Matty’s boxers and he pushes them down Matty’s thighs, his cock is throbbing with anticipation and he lets out a slow breath, trying to calm his pounding heart.

‘Lube is in the drawer on my side,’ George almost hums, and Matty twists so he can grab the lube, his hands shaking a little now as he hands it over to George.

‘Hands and knees,’ George instructs, and Matty does as he’s told, his mind flashing back to the last time he was in this position, with George’s tongue slicking him up.

‘You’ve done this to yourself before, yeah?’ George enquires, grabbing at Matty’s arse and squeezing just enough for it to hurt in the best way.

Matty nods, his head hanging low between his shoulder blades.

‘A few times… I’d imagine it was you.’

George groans at this, and Matty hears George pop the cap off the bottle of lube, the muscles in his thighs tighten instinctively and he shuts his eyes, mentally preparing himself as he’s certain that George’s fingers are going to feel quite a lot bigger than his own.

Matty lets out a short high-pitched gasp at the feel of George’s cold, slick fingers sliding down the crack of his arse, his cock twitches between his legs and Matty aches to touch himself.

‘Please,’ Matty groans, surprising himself at how much he needs this, how much he’s been craving it for weeks now.

George hums to himself, low in his throat and Matty feels the tip of George’s finger slide inside painfully slowly. The thrumming burn causes his mouth to go slack, it feels just as good as when he’d done it himself, but _better_ because it’s George, and he’s being so gentle, one large hand cupping the side of Matty’s arse as he slowly works a finger in and out.

Matty’s low whines fill the room and he finds himself pushing his hips backwards to meet George’s finger, this is when George slowly adds another finger which causes Matty’s hips to jerk and his eyes fly open.

‘Ohhh fuck,’ he curses because it fucking hurts, but the pain has triggered something in Matty that he had honestly never experienced before, he finds himself enjoying the painful yet intensely pleasurable sensation.

‘Are you okay?’ George asks quickly, his hand slowing, two fingers buried deep inside Matty.

‘Keep doing that,’ Matty grits out as George slowly starts to move his fingers again, this time a little faster, and Matty’s cock twitches once again.

‘I could come like this,’ Matty whines, he can feel sweat beading on his forehead.

‘I’m gonna add another finger, okay?’ George says softly, squeezing Matty’s arse.

Matty just nods as best he can, pushing his arse towards George to indicate that he wants it, and he almost wants to sob as George adds another finger because he’s starting to feel full now, but it’s so good Matty inwardly curses himself that it’s taken him so long to admit to himself that this is all he could ever want.

‘So good… so fucking good, George…’

‘Just you wait until it’s my cock,’ George murmurs, and Matty can hear the smirk in his voice even if he can’t see George’s face.

‘I’m ready,’ Matty moans, his moan turning to whine as he feels George pull his fingers out. He flops forward onto the bed, gasping as his cock makes contact with the sheets, he thrusts a little to gain friction but quickly stops, he so badly wants to come with George’s cock buried inside him.

‘I want to see your face,’ George purrs and Matty rolls over, aware that his face must be red and sweaty, and his hair plastered to the sides of his face.

Matty looks up at George, and George smirks down at him, taking in Matty’s appearance, and he notices then that George is just as naked as him now, and when the fuck did that happen?

‘You look all fucked out and we haven’t even started.’

‘Well get on with it then,’ Matty grins. 

‘Condom?’ George asks.

‘I’m clean,’ Matty reassures him, and George just nods, leaning down to kiss Matty softer this time, far softer than any of the previous passion fuelled kisses. George breaks away and slides his fingers under Matty’s thighs, lifting them up a little.

‘I think it’ll feel best if you’re on you’re back… and I… I want to see your face while I’m inside you,’ George admits, a blush tinging his already flushed cheeks. Matty blushes at this too but nods, letting George position him how he wants him.

‘Ready?’ he asks, slicking up his cock, using liberal amounts of lube, Matty notices, nodding and wrapping a hand around himself, because he just needs to _touch_.  


Matty closes his eyes and inhales sharply as he feels the blunt head of George’s cock press against his hole and slowly start to slide inside. He’s not going to lie, it really fucking hurts, but at the same time he feels full and complete, and he opens his eyes in time to see the look on George’s face, his eyes are closed and his eyes are shut, and he looks fucking blissful, and he’s the most beautiful thing that Matty has ever seen.

‘You’re so fucking tight, Matty,’ George growls, pressing his face into Matty’s neck, Matty almost bent in half with the whole length of George fully inside him now. Matty is so overcome with sensation that he can’t even form any words, so he just cries out, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

As George slowly starts to thrust in and out, Matty’s fingers grip the sheets so hard his knuckles go white. Matty had also always suspected that George had a filthy mouth, but now he knows for sure with the litany of breathy curses escaping George’s lips against Matty’s sweaty skin.

‘Dreamt about fucking your perfect arse for so fucking long, Matty.’

Matty whines and shifts so that the angle of George’s thrusting shifts and all of a sudden Matty sees white behind his eyes and his head slams backwards against the sheets, his body jerking. So _that’s_ what his prostate feels like, huh?

‘O-oh my fucking god, do that again,’ he gasps out, and George grips onto Matty tighter, thrusting at that exact angle again, making Matty cry out, sweaty fingers grasping for purchase in George’s hair, holding on as George starts to relentlessly thrust against that sweet spot inside him. Matty’s cock is trapped between their sweaty stomachs and the delicious friction coupled with George slamming against his prostate is enough to have Matty coming with a shout, his eyes rolling back, and Matty has never felt pleasure like this, and he never wants it to end.

George continues thrusting for a few minutes, Matty almost holding on for dear life, because George is fucking going for it, Matty can feel his thighs shaking with pleasure because despite coming, he can feel his cock getting hard once again just from the pressure on his prostate.

‘I’m gonna come,’ George gasps out and Matty just presses his face into George’s neck as he feels George fill him up for what feels like a fucking lifetime.

‘Holy fuck,’ Matty says weakly as George slowly slides out of him, collapsing down next to him on the sweaty messed up sheets.

‘Yeah,’ George pants, his eyes closed, one sweaty hand taking hold of Matty’s, squeezing.

‘That was amazing,’ Matty sighs, rolling slowly onto his side and propping himself up on one arm, wincing a little at how sensitive his arse now feels.

George opens his eyes and smiles up at Matty.

‘I didn’t hurt you?’

‘No, you didn’t, but it definitely hurt to begin with,’ Matty snorts, shaking his head. ‘Your cock is enormous and I’m not going to massage your ego more than it needs to be massaged, but honestly I’ve never had sex that feels anywhere near as good as that did… so well fucking done, George.’

This makes George giggle and pull Matty in for a deep kiss which Matty eagerly accepts, his fingers weaving into George’s even messier than usual hair. When they pull away Matty glances over at the clock on the wall.

‘When do you need to go and get Lola from rehearsal?’ Matty asks, hoping it’s not soon because he’s perfectly content to lay here with George in the messy sheets they’ve created.  


‘Not until 5, got a while yet… she’s so excited to be a star,’ George says, laughing softly, reaching up to stroke the side of Matty’s cheek. They lay there together like that for a few minutes, shrouded in a content silence that neither of them wants to break, until George pipes up.

‘Oh fuck, I forgot to mention… I might have found you a job!’

Matty blinks and just stares at George, not entirely sure he heard correctly.

‘A job? At Sainsbury’s?’

‘God no,’ George laughs. ‘I wouldn’t put you through that… also I’d be way too distracted to work if you worked with me… no, do you remember John? We met him on that night out, he’s Ross’s old flat mate.’

Matty nods impatiently, waiting for George to get on with it.

‘Well… he’s the manager of that little coffee shop, Takk in the centre, and he’s looking for a barista and Ross mentioned to him that you were looking for a job, he put in a good word for you… I’ve got his number in my wallet!’

‘Holy fuck, George, are you serious?’

George nods, grinning widely, and Matty could cry with happiness, but he just hugs George so tightly, burying his face in George’s shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut briefly before pulling away.

‘The gods were really fucking smiling down on me the day our girls made friends, weren’t they? How did I get so lucky?’

‘Smiling down on us,’ George corrects him, gently.

**

Later that evening, Matty is chopping onions for the stir fry he’s making while George helps Lola with her spelling homework.

George had made it to Lola’s 5pm nativity pick up with seconds to spare because they’d both fallen asleep after Matty had insisted on sucking George off to thank him for the potential job prospects. 

John’s number has been added to Matty’s phone, deciding that he’ll give John a call tomorrow, and Matty is still not over how grateful he is to George and his wonderful, accommodating friends for well and truly turning his pathetic life around, and helping him when he felt like he had no one else. Matty’s never had friends like Ross and Adam, but he’s pretty sure he’s on his way to calling Ross and Adam his friends now, not just friends of George’s.

He’s adding the onions as his phone vibrates on the kitchen counter, he considers not answering but his stomach plummets when he sees Liz’s name flash up on the screen.

Dinner forgotten Matty grabs his phone and presses answer before he can second guess himself.

‘Hi, Liz?’ Matty says quickly, his heart pounding.

‘Daddy? Daddy, it’s me, Annie!’


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start looking up for Matty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay with this chapter!
> 
> I posted a George/Matty oneshot which you can read here https://archiveofourown.org/works/20142154 - and then I got sick, but I hope you enjoy this one!
> 
> All comments and feedback make my whole life, and you're all so kind! <3
> 
> Enjoy!

**Matty**

_‘Daddy? Daddy, it’s me, Annie!’_

‘Oh, baby, hi,’ Matty breathes out, a sudden lump in his throat because he can’t articulate the sheer relief he feels at hearing his daughter’s voice again.

‘Mummy’s letting me use her phone,’ Annie says proudly and Matty collapses into one of the kitchen table chairs, feeling equal parts giddy and wary.

‘My grown-up girl,’ Matty smiles as he rubs his face, dinner completely forgotten for the time being.

‘Lola told me you’re living with her now,’ Annie says quietly now into the phone, and Matty can just tell that she’s chewing her bottom lip, an unfortunate trait she’s picked up from him whenever he’s worried or anxious about anything.

‘I am, I miss you so much though, Annie,’ Matty says softly, hoping to calm his daughter’s obvious distress.

‘Mummy says you did something naughty and that’s why we had to move to Grandma’s.’

Matty frowns at this, he had wondered what Liz had told Annie about why he left, but he supposes explaining to a four year old that he lost his job and lied about rental payments would be a little bit pointless, but at the same time, lying to children sets a bad example.

‘Daddy lost his job, sweetheart,’ he tries to explain but he falters, not wanting to scare her, deciding to not say anymore.

‘I-I thought you didn’t want me anymore, and you wanted Lola instead,’ Annie whispers, her voice cracking a little bit. Matty’s heart aches, wanting nothing more than to hold her and tell her everything will be okay.

‘No,’ Matty says firmly, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him. ‘I love you more than anything, Annie, more than Frozen, more than ice cream.’

‘Really?’

‘Of course, silly billy… I promise I’ll see you soon, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Annie says, sounding a little brighter but still worried. ‘Will you come see me in the nativity… I’m an angel!’

‘You’re my angel,’ Matty smiles which makes Annie giggle. ‘Of course I will, I wouldn’t miss it.’

‘I love you, daddy,’ Annie declares, unprompted, this time a few tears do escape down Matty’s cheeks because the love he feels is so intense, and it doesn’t matter how much he’s fucked up, his daughter loves him and that’s all that matters.

‘I love you too, Annie… is mummy there? I need to speak to her quickly, okay?’

‘Mummy, daddy wants to talk to you,’ Matty hears Annie call distantly and Matty takes a deep breath, he really doesn’t want to talk to Liz but he knows that he needs to clear the, he’s a mature adult and he can _fucking do this_.

‘Hi,’ Liz’s voice fills Matty’s ears and he rubs his temples, unsure really of what to say.

‘Hi, Liz… how’re you doing?’ He decides to go for polite before getting into why he really needs to talk to her.

‘Your mum came to see me at work today,’ Liz says, completely ignoring Matty’s forced pleasantries. Suddenly everything clicks in Matty’s head, when his mum had said she had people to see, she’d been talking about Liz. A wave of irrational anger washes over Matty for a second because he’s twenty-fucking-five and his mum really shouldn’t be fighting his battles for him, it’s bloody pathetic.

‘Oh… what did she say?’ Matty says tightly, pinching the bridge of his nose because he just hopes this doesn’t turn into an argument.

‘So… you didn’t put her up to it?’ Liz questions.

‘Of course not,’ Matty snaps. ‘I told her what happened, but she didn’t tell me she was coming to see you at work, fucking hell, Liz!’

‘Okay, okay, sorry I was just checking!’ Liz backtracks, obviously not expecting Matty to react quite like that.

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped,’ Matty sighs. ‘It’s just such a mess, Liz… I haven’t seen my daughter in nearly a month, do you know how shit that makes me feel?’

‘I know… I’m sorry,’ and Liz’s apology makes Matty falter because he wasn’t expecting to get any form of apology out of Liz at all. Matty mentally makes a note to buy his mum a really fucking good Christmas present to say thank you for this.

‘What are you sorry for?’ Matty asks as he gets up, he needs a fucking drink.

‘For kicking you out, for calling you sick… for stopping you from seeing Annie,’ Liz sighs as Matty opens a can of beer, leaning back against the kitchen counter and shutting his eyes, he can hear Lola’s animated voice from the other room and the low rumble of George’s.

‘They were all pretty shitty things to do,’ Matty says seriously. ‘It can’t just be fixed with one fucking sorry, Liz.’

‘I know, I know… um, so your mum said you’re living with that George guy, Lola’s dad… are you two… together now?’

‘Yeah,’ Matty says, smiling for the first time. ‘He’s an amazing dad, and he makes me very happy… I’d be fucking homeless without him.’

Liz is quiet for a few seconds, and Matty knows what she wants to ask so he decides to say it first.

‘It’s been going on for a while… we were still together when it started and for that _I’m_ sorry,’ Matty admits, taking a deep swig of beer.

‘I guess it deserve that,’ Liz says quietly. ‘I was a bitch to you, but I was so stressed about the money and everything, Matty, I didn’t handle it very well…’

Matty scoffs and says nothing, what a fucking understatement.

‘So… I guess we need to sort stuff out… about Annie and everything?’ Liz says uncertainly after _many_ beats of awkward silence.

‘I want her on Friday’s and Saturday’s,’ Matty says quickly, because he’d been thinking about this since his mum came to see him, what he would propose to Liz if he were to speak to her. He knows that pushing his luck and asking her to come and live with him would be pointless, Liz would never agree to that, and as much as he dislikes Liz, he knows that Liz loves Annie just as much as he does.

‘Deal,’ Liz says, equally quickly, and Matty hates how much it sounds it sounds like a fucking business transaction, but he guesses Liz is just as eager to get this sorted as he is.  


‘That was… easy,’ Matty laughs a little, finishing his beer.

‘Mmm,’ Liz says quietly.

‘So… I can pick her up from school on Friday?’ Matty checks, his heart feeling lighter than he ever could have imagined.

‘Yeah… I’ll text you; I’ll need to drop some stuff over to yours; I don’t want Annie having to take weekend stuff into school every Friday, okay? Text me your address?’

‘Matty, how’s dinner coming along?’ George calls from the living room.

‘Yeah, speak soon, bye,’ Matty says hastily, hanging up and literally jumping in the air with pure elation, spilling his beer down his shirt.

‘George, come here!’ Matty calls out, his face feels like it’s about to split from smiling so widely.

‘What’s the matter?’ George asks, his voice becoming clearer as he enters the kitchen, and Matty barrels into his arms, wrapping his whole body around George.

‘I get her back!’ Matty gasps into George’s neck, tears of happiness starting to spill down his cheeks. ‘I get to see Annie again!’

‘Oh, Matty,’ George breathes, his arms tightening around Matty and holding him close. ‘I’m so fucking happy for you, love.’

Matty pulls away from George’s neck and kisses him without thinking, tears still slowly leaking down his face, neither he nor George hear the slight creak of the kitchen door opening, nor do they see Lola standing in the doorway, staring at them.

‘Daddy?’

Lola’s voice promptly makes them spring apart, Matty’s heart is thudding rapidly in his chest and he wipes his cheeks and mouth. Lola looks confused and hurt, her face unhappy, her spelling book clutched in her hands.

‘Lola…’ George starts to say, but Lola runs out of the room, and Matty hears her run upstairs. He turns to look at George, crestfallen to see that George is rubbing his face, his face creased up much like his daughter’s was a few seconds ago.

‘Fuck,’ George sighs. ‘I knew I’d have to have this conversation with her sooner later, but I was just kind of hoping it wouldn’t be this soon…’

‘Let me talk to her,’ Matty decides, squeezing George’s hand.

‘I just had to explain to Annie that I hadn’t replaced her with Lola, so I’m kind of on a roll right now.’

‘You had to what?!’ George exclaims, looking at Matty with anger in his eyes. ‘What’s Liz been telling her?!’

‘No… I don’t think it’s anything like that, Lola told Annie I was living with you guys, and I guess Annie just put two and two together and made five… it must be so fucking confusing for her…’

‘Oh,’ George says, his face softening. ‘This parenting lark is hard, isn’t it?’

Matty laughs bitterly and nods his head before leaning into George’s arm.

‘I think we’re doing alright… we’re doing our best, at least.’

George smiles and nods, kissing Matty on the top of his head.

‘I do love you,’ George says softly, nose pressing into soft curls, and Matty feels butterflies take flight in his stomach, because he’s a soppy fuck.

‘I love you too… and Lola… so let me go and talk to her, okay?’

‘Sure,’ George smiles. ‘I trust you.’

Matty gives George’s hand one final squeeze and a small smile before heading upstairs, his stomach in knots. He knows how to handle Annie when she gets angry or upset, but Lola is a different ball game all together. Annie sulks, but from what Matty has seen in the last few weeks, Lola likes to shout when she’s upset about something, and Matty isn’t sure he knows how to fucking deal with that.

‘Lola?’ Matty asks softly, knocking gently on her bedroom door, he waits for a few seconds but there’s no answer, so he knocks again, a little harder this time.

‘Lola, sweetheart, it’s Matty… can I come in?’

Matty hears a muffled ‘yes’ come from inside, so he takes this as his queue to slowly open the door. Lola is laying down on her top bunk, she has her arms around her Olaf plushie and she’s pouting at Matty from across the room. Matty thanks any deity listening that she’s not crying, because anyone else’s tears always set him off, and that would just be an absolute disaster.

‘Hey,’ Matty starts, making his way over to her bed, he stands on the bottom rung of the bunk ladder and hooks his chin over the edge of the mattress she he can see Lola clearly.

‘You were icky kissing daddy,’ Lola states, her bottom lip sticking out much like how George’s does when he wants something, Matty holds back a smile, knowing it wouldn’t go down too well right now.

‘I was,’ Matty nods, deciding to let her lead the conversation, intrigued to know what Lola is actually thinking because children are so much more astute and aware than people give them credit for sometimes.

‘But you’re a boy, and Annie has a mummy so why aren’t you kissing her?’

Matty blinks a little bit, quite impressed at how Lola has joined the dots.

‘Annie’s mummy and I aren’t together anymore,’ Matty explains, giving her a small smile. ‘That’s why I’m living here with you, your daddy said that I could stay with you, which is very kind of him.’

Lola frowns a little bit and considers this.

‘Boys normally kiss girls though,’ Lola states and Matty nods at this because she’s not entirely wrong.

‘They do… but sometimes boys want to kiss boys, and girls can also want to kiss other girls,’ Matty tries to explain, and he really didn’t think he’d be explaining the basics of sexuality to a five-year-old today, but here he is.

Lola looks like she’s considering this before saying, ‘I don’t want to kiss girls or boys.’

Matty can’t help but laugh this time. ‘That’s okay, Lola. You’re five so you won’t know who you want to kiss for a while!’

‘So… does this mean you’re my daddy too?’ Lola asks, looking at him seriously, sitting up straight in her bunk now. ‘If you were kissing my daddy like mummies and daddies kiss.’

‘Well…’ Matty says, pausing to work out how to word his sentence. ‘Maybe one day… I do love your daddy very much.’

This finally makes Lola smile, her whole face lighting up. ‘I love my daddy too, he’s the best...’

‘He is the best,’ Matty agrees. ‘We’re very lucky.’

‘You’re a good daddy too,’ Lola says then, completely out of the blue and un-prompted, and Matty can feel the corners of his eyes start to sting, because he didn’t expect this, he’s about to say something in response but Lola continues.

‘Annie talks about you a lot, she says that you make good hot chocolate, and you give good cuddles.’

Matty chuckles wetly, pressing his face briefly into the sheets, Lola leans forward and gently pats him on top of the head which makes Matty giggle into the soft cotton.

‘Thanks, Lola… why are you petting me like a dog?’

‘Because you have hair like a poodle!’ 

This makes Matty laugh again and he climbs down onto the floor, looking up at Lola this time.

‘Can I have a hug?’

Lola nods and clambers down the ladder, wrapping her arms around Matty’s middle, he gives her a gentle squeeze and smiles down at her. She looks up at him, smiling broadly.

‘I think you make daddy happy… he smiles all the time now you live here.’

Matty’s heart tugs at this and he kisses the top of Lola’s head.

‘He makes me very happy too… right, let’s go get some dinner okay… we might even be able to have ice cream for pudding, sound like a deal?’

Lola nods eagerly, abruptly letting go of him and running out of the room, children’s abundant energy has always confused Matty, he’s also relieved beyond words that he didn’t have to explain to Lola about why her mum fucked off, that’s definitely George’s job. He pads down the stairs towards the kitchen, stopping in the doorway quietly as he witnesses George wrap an arm around Lola while he cooks the stir fry that Matty had abandoned earlier. George senses his presence and looks up, giving him a broad smile matched by Lola.

‘You two have a good chat?’ George asks, looking from Matty to Lola, the back to Matty again.

‘We did,’ Matty grins, giving Lola a wink, which makes her giggle again and press her face into George’s side.

‘Plates?’ Matty asks, nodding towards dinner to indicate it being ready.

‘Plates,’ George affirms as Lola lets go of George to sit up at the kitchen table. Matty retrieves the plates and as he walks past George to lay the table, George catches the corner of Matty’s shirt in his free hand, pulling Matty into a brief kiss which still makes Matty’s stomach do somersaults.

‘Eww,’ Lola giggles, shaking her head and covering her eyes.

‘Eww yourself, missy,’ Matty grins as he places the plates and cutlery down on the table before sitting down opposite Lola at the table.

George dishes up dinner and sits down next to Matty, his hand going to Matty’s knee, giving it a squeeze under the table.

Matty beams, deciding that today had been a _good_ day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One month later, v Christmassy and cute!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, this is the penultimate chapter you guys!
> 
> The next update should be sometime next week, and it'll be an sort of epilogue.
> 
> I just wanted to say how humbled you all make me feel with your kudos and comments, I've loved writing this so much, and will be extremely sad when it comes to an end.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the cute! <3

**Matty**

_One month later_

Matty feels as giddy as a child as he looks out of the partially fogged up window of the coffee shop that’s been his place of employment for the last three weeks, it’s started snowing heavily and Matty has always fucking loved snow. He can still remember Annie experiencing it for the first time when she was about a year old, with pink cheeks to match her pink baby snowsuit, giggling and clapping her hands together to try and catch the thick falling flakes.

The other reason for Matty’s giddiness is the fact that it’s Annie and Lola’s nativity tonight, and as soon as his shift finishes at 6pm he’s heading straight over to the school to watch with George. Liz is going too, but his relationship with Liz has been strangely civil since their text conversation a month ago. Matty is more than happy with the arrangement as it stands, George picks Annie and Lola up from school on a Friday evening so she’s there when Matty gets home from work, and he gets to have her with him until he takes her home on a Sunday morning after breakfast.

Matty leans against the counter behind the till and shuts his eyes briefly, it’s pretty quiet considering it’s only a week until Christmas, but he supposes the impending snow has kept most people inside even though it’s not even 4pm. There’s a couple snuggled up together in the corner, and a few students tapping away on laptops, but it’s been a good half an hour since he’s had a new customer, John is out the back doing paperwork, and it gives Matty a moment to breathe. The last month has been a complete whirlwind, but he can honestly say this is the happiest he’s been since he was a child, he has a wonderful boyfriend, his daughter is part of his life again, and he has a job that he surprisingly enjoys, and is actually quite good at.

The bell above the door tinkles and Matty’s eyes open and glance over to the door, his heart growing five sizes as he sees George, Annie and Lola shuffle inside, cots and hats covered in snow and beaming smiles on their faces.

‘Hi, gang,’ Matty grins as the girls run over to him.

‘Hi daddy,’ Annie grins up at him, Matty notices she’s missing a front tooth and he lets out a fake gasp.

‘Where did your tooth go, baby?’

‘The tooth fairy took it… but she only left me a pound, and Mikey at school said he gets two pounds for his teeth!’

Matty crosses his arms in front of his chest and shakes his head in outrage.

‘I’ll have to have a word with that fairy the next time I see her!’

George grins over at him, his eyes sparkling with amusement at the exchange.

‘Hello, you, this is a nice surprise… I wasn’t expecting to see you guys until later,’ Matty smiles as George leans over the counter to press a quick kiss to Matty’s cheek.

‘The girls wanted to go for a walk in the snow, so I thought we’d come see you,’ George explains with a look on his face indicating he’d much rather be at home in the warm.

Matty nods in understanding at looks over at Annie and Lola.

‘Are you excited for tonight, girls?’ He asks, leaning over the counter to drop a quick kiss to the top of their heads. They both nod eagerly before Annie looks up at him earnestly.

‘You’re definitely coming, daddy?’ 

‘I wouldn’t miss my angel being an actual angel, would I?’

Annie giggles at this, and Lola pipes up.

‘Am I a real star then?’

‘The brightest star,’ George says proudly and Matty nods in agreement as George wraps an arm around both Lola and Annie.

‘Right girls, we need to go now because I know it’s going to take at least an hour to get home at the speed it took us to get here, we’ll see Matty at school later, okay?’

‘Bye daddy,’ Annie pipes up and Lola gives him a wave. George kisses him again, a bit more lingering than earlier before ushering the girls back outside into the thickly falling snow.

‘Well if you aren’t all sickeningly adorable,’ John declares from the doorway into the back office, making Matty jump slightly.

‘How long were you standing there?’ Matty laughs, his face going a little flushed, because he’s so bloody proud of his little, slightly dysfunctional family.

‘Long enough,’ John grins, patting Matty on the shoulder. ‘Really am happy for you, buddy. Adam and Ross told me about your situation ages ago, and I’m just glad I could help in any way I could.’

Matty smiles and nudges John lightly with his arm.

‘I’m forever in your debt, Mr Waugh.’

John pulls a face which makes Matty snort.

‘Get back to work, and never call me that again,’ he says jokingly.

‘Oh yeah, I’ll just serve all these invisible customers, why didn’t I think of that earlier?’

John just rolls his eyes as Matty grins, glancing over at the clock. Two hours to go.

**

It’s just gone 6pm as Matty slips and slides his way towards Annie and Lola’s school. He pulls his coat tightly around his small frame, even though the snow has stopped for now the temperature has dropped since it got dark, and Matty wishes he’d bought a scarf or something. The performance starts at 6:30, and Matty is determined not to be _that_ parent that comes in late for their kid’s school things, Matty reminds himself that Liz is also going, so he redoubles his efforts to be there on time, despite almost falling and breaking bones several times on the way.

Matty arrives at the school with 10 minutes to spare, and spots George standing by the school gates smoking, despite the freezing temperature.

‘What are you doing, you lunatic?’ Matty exclaims as he reaches George, his heart warming as George’s face lights up when he realises who’s speaking to him.

‘Nerves,’ George explains as he exhales into the cold dark air, wrapping an arm around Matty’s shivering shoulders, Matty leans into the touch in an attempt to steal some of George’s almost abundant warmth.

‘They’ll be great,’ Matty assures, taking the cigarette from George’s fingers and taking a deep drag.

‘Cigarette thief,’ George accuses, bumping his hip into Matty’s, making Matty sway because George is like double his size or something ridiculous.

Matty takes another long drag and hands George back the stubby end of the cigarette with a cheeky grin on his face.

‘You can’t hate me,’ Matty says in a sing song voice, fluttering his long eyelashes.

‘I can’t,’ George agrees fondly, looking up to the sky as it starts to snow lightly once more.

‘C’mon,’ George declares, stubbing the cigarette out in the snow. ‘We should probably go and get our seats… I saw Liz, she’s a few rows in front of us, is that okay?’

Matty takes George’s hand in his while nodding. ‘I’m a grown up, I can sit in the same hall as my ex-fiancé without kicking up a fuss.’

‘I know,’ George says quickly, squeezing Matty’s hand to let Matty know he didn’t mean anything bad by it as the make their way gingerly up the front steps, careful to not slip in the snow. Matty gives George a reassuring smile as they head into the welcome warmth of the hall, the bustle of parents and children filling their ears. There’s a large decorated Christmas tree standing next to the piano by the stage, and Matty suddenly feels properly festive for the first time this season.

George leads them towards their seats, about six rows from the front and Matty takes a deep breath because he honestly can’t believe that he’s about to see his daughter’s first nativity in ‘big school’, and he’s here with the love of his life sitting next to him in this crowded noisy school hall. 

Everyone starts to take their seats around them, and as the lights dim Matty catches a glance of Liz sitting a few rows ahead next to a tall looking guy with curly blonde hair. He feels an initial spike of anger because Liz hadn’t mentioned that she had a new boyfriend, and it’s definitely Matty’s business if his daughter is going to be living with this new guy at some point, he reminds himself to bring it up at some point, but today is not the day.

Matty is ashamed to admit that he doesn’t pay an awful lot of attention to the nativity and he finds himself drifting off in the warmth of the school hall, until George grabs hold of his hand and interlocks his fingers, indicating towards the stage with a nod of his head, because on the stage stands Annie and Lola, both beaming proudly in their handmade costumes. He catches Annie’s eye and she waves at him, breaking her character which makes Matty giggle quietly because he was never any good at this kind of stuff either. Lola waves at George too and Matty sees a few tears escape George’s eyes so Matty lifts George’s hand interlocked with his and kisses his fingers, still squeezing.

Matty can feel someone looking at him, and he glances over to see Liz catch his eye as the children on stage start to sing, most unable to carry at tune, but Matty swears he can hear Annie’s voice loud and clear, and mostly in tune over the other children. Liz gives him a small smile before turning her head back towards the stage, and Matty feels an almost overwhelming happiness engulf him.

George strokes Matty’s thumb with his as the nativity continues and Matty allows a feeling of pure contentment wash over him, because while nothing in life can ever be perfect, so far, it’s alright.


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.
> 
> One year later.

**George**

_One year later_

George is so nervous he feels physically sick from it. His stomach twists in knots, and he tells himself to calm the fuck down and enjoy himself as his hand slips into the pocket of his jeans, fingers grazing over the small ring box resting there.

It’s Christmas Eve, and himself, Matty and the girls are down south staying with Matty’s mum, brother, and stepdad in Brighton. George had been toying with the idea of proposing to Matty for a couple of weeks now, he’d even had the ring for about six months, but he’s been putting it off because he’s a fucking coward. They’re currently at the beach despite the freezing cold wind, but the girls had insisted, so with a lot of fussing on Matty’s part they’d wrapped the girls in coats and scarves and made their way to the beach with Matty’s brother Louis. Denise and Matty’s stepdad had politely declined. George envies their warmth right now.

‘Daddy, look!’ Lola shrieks and George snaps out of his daydream, grinning when he sees that Matty is giving Lola a piggyback, and Louis has Annie on his back, they’re throwing a Frisbee back and forth which has George impressed because it really is windy as fuck. Lola has the Frisbee clutched in her gloved hands, grinning proudly at having caught it.  


‘I can see,’ George laughs, fingers clasping the ring box, moving it from his jeans pocket into his coat pocket. George had let Annie, Lola, and Louis in on the secret earlier when Matty had been ordering lunch for them all at the little fish and chip shop on the seafront, Annie and Lola and squealed which made Matty look over, but George had bribed them with chocolate buttons not to say a word, and they had nodded obediently after that. Louis had just smiled awkwardly and nodded, but George didn’t really expect much from Louis, he is a fifteen year old boy after all. 

When they’d arrived a few days ago, George had pulled Denise aside and told her of his plans, to which Denise had just hugged him tightly and patted his cheek.

‘I’d be proud to have you as a son-in-law,’ Denise had said, her voice slightly choked, George had blushed at this and just hugged her again for lack of something sentimental to say. George could rhapsodise for hours about Matty and how happy they are together, but he feels like Denise doesn’t need to hear all that.

George feels his heart swell as Matty catches his eye and grins, his cheeks are red from the cold, and his now much shorter hair which George fondly calls ‘the mushroom cloud’ is windswept within an inch of its life and sticking up absolutely everywhere. He’s so beautiful, George thinks because Matty truly is the most beautiful person inside and out, and George _still_ can’t quite believe his luck. The Matty today is a far cry from the soaked, tearful man that turned up on his doorstep a year ago because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. The contrast between Matty a year ago and Matty today is so vast, and George is unendingly proud of how far he’s come. Himself, Matty, Ross and Adam are now so close as a unit now that it’s hard to believe that they haven’t been friends their entire lives, and when George had told the boys that he was going to propose to Matty, Ross had fucking cried which Adam teased him mercilessly for despite his own eyes looking just a little bit glassy too. 

George makes his way over to the others, stumbling a little on the stony beach which makes Lola and Annie giggle. They’re no longer throwing the Frisbee, instead Matty is trying (and failing) to teach them to skim stones in the water, but the sea is far too rough. He catches Louis eye and nods surreptitiously which is the code they had agreed on earlier, George had slipped Louis a tenner and told him to take the girls to buy a hot chocolate when George gave him the signal.

‘Who wants hot chocolate?’ Louis pipes up, and George grins as Lola and Annie stick their hands in the air like they’re at school and answering a question.

The girls follow Louis away from the beach and towards the small parade of shops on the sea front, and George’s stomach starts to churn with nerves, but he swallows it down, wrapping an arm around Matty’s shoulder which Matty instinctively leans into. 

‘This is nice,’ Matty sighs happily to which George ‘hmms’ in agreement, pressing his nose into the tuft of curls on top of Matty’s head, nuzzling a little and breathing him in.

‘Your obsession with my hair is unnatural, George,’ Matty laughs.

‘A bit like your obsession with my cock then,’ George retorts with a deadpan expression which makes Matty cackle with laughter, throwing his head back against George’s shoulder. 

They walk a little bit further down the beach before George thinks, this is it. I’m going to fucking do this.

‘Hey, love, I need to talk to you about something,’ George starts, he notices Matty’s expression stiffen, like he’s expecting bad news so instead of waiting around he hastily drops down onto one knee in front of Matty. George watches Matty’s expression change from uncertainty to shock as it dawns on him what’s actually happening.

‘Oh my God,’ Matty murmurs, his hand going to cover his mouth as George reaches a hand into his pocket to remove the boxed ring.

‘Matty, you and the girls are the most important thing to me in this world, and I’m eternally thankful to Lola and Annie for introducing us that day at the school gates… you are the most selfless, kind and caring man I’ve ever met, and you have no idea how proud I am of you for getting to where you are today…’ George pauses as he notices that Matty’s eyes are shining with tears, he’s also surprised to find himself tearing up just the tiniest bit.

‘I think we make an amazing team, you’re such a great dad, and nothing would make me happier than to watch Lola and Annie grow up with you by my side… Matthew Timothy Healy, will you marry me?’ George finishes the last part quickly, his heart thudding so fast with nerves, even though Matty is nodding, his hands covering almost his entire face.

‘Yeah?’ George asks, swallowing thickly as he opens the box to reveal a simple silver band glinting in the cold winter sunlight.

‘Yes!’ Matty gasps out, still nodding madly as George gets up off his knees, taking Matty’s cold hand in his, slipping the ring on his finger, his own hands shaking slightly.

‘Fuck, George,’ Matty almost sobs, and George pulls Matty into his arms, pressing his face into Matty’s neck and holding him tightly.

‘I love you so much,’ George says softly.

‘I love you too,’ Matty says thickly, pulling away a little so he can wipe at his face, as he does this George notices Louis and the girls making their way over, George grins at them and gives them a thumbs up. Lola and Annie run over to them excitedly, coats flapping, the hot chocolates that Louis is carrying completely forgotten as they both barrel into George and Matty’s sides.

‘Did you say yes, Daddy?’ Annie asks earnestly, looking up at Matty with wide expectant eyes.

‘I did, baby,’ Matty replies, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as both Annie and Lola squeal with excitement.

‘Do you get to wear a wedding dress?’ Lola giggles.

‘We’ll see about that one,’ Matty laughs and George simply cannot contain himself anymore, he pulls Matty in for a deep kiss, his arms going around Matty’s neck with Lola and Annie squashed in between them.

‘I’m definitely a weird fifth wheel here,’ Louis grins, still clutching the hot chocolates.

Matty nods and giggles against George’s lips, and George just continues to hold Matty close to him because George has never been one to believe in happy endings…

…but this comes pretty damn close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit you guys I can't believe the end is finally here!
> 
> I've had this story in my head for such a long time, and I'm pretty proud of myself for finally getting this out as it's the longest thing I've ever written.
> 
> Thank you so much to anyone who has left kudos or commented, as it means more to me than you'll ever know.
> 
> I hope you're happy with the ending, I feel like the boys deserve a happy ending. <3


End file.
